Hotel in One of Earth's Driest Places Is Powered by the Sun

[Judi Lynn]

The Atacama Desert has the potential to power all of South America, and one small hotel is tapping into it.


By Sarah Gibbens
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 8, 2017

SAN PEDRO, CHILEChile’s Atacama Desert is the driest non-polar place on Earth. It’s so dry that some parts of the desert have never seen a single drop of precipitation, and there’s rarely lasting cloud-cover. While these conditions are hostile for human life, domestic and international businesses think they’re just right to host enough solar panels to power all of South America.

To reach this lofty goal, renewable energy businesses are starting with small-scale test projects. And one small luxury resort in the middle of this harsh yet stunningly beautiful landscape hopes to be one such success story.

Located in the northern Chile town of San Pedro—a destination for adventure tourists and backpackers—is the unique Tierra Atacama Hotel and Spa. It sits nested in an oasis-like patch of greenery in a region with hundreds of square miles of bright brown dirt. The hotel's contemporary property sits at the outskirts of San Pedro, overlooking a scenic chain of active volcanoes in the distance. Built inside the clay walls of a centuries-old cattle corral, the modern glass and adobe structure blends into the desert as if it were camouflaged. But inside, the hotel is bustling with life.

Medicinal herbs are planted on seemingly every green space flanking sidewalks and patios, and a vegetable garden used by the hotel's kitchen is clustered outside the main entrance. Built with local materials, everything from the pool to outdoor fire pits seem to simply emerge from the ground. Catching the eye are the 588 solar panels that stand about three feet off the ground around the hotel's outer wall.

More:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/chile-atacama-desert-solar-energy-hotel/

Images of the Tierra Atacama Hotel:

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