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The article doesn't mention it, but these are known as concentrated (or concentrating) solar power plants. There's quite a bit of FUD about solar not being dis
by danielharan 15y ago
The article doesn't mention it, but these are known as concentrated (or concentrating) solar power plants.
There's quite a bit of FUD about solar not being dispatchable (ready to generate at a moment's notice). Massive heat sinks are just one solution; a less capital intensive one is software that turns off electrical appliances when needed.
- ams6110 15y agoMy parents had a device installed that allowed the utility to cut off the air conditioning for some short period of time (15 min?) during peak periods. They got a discount whenever it was activated, but otherwise I can't see how it really was a net savings, as the AC would only have to run that much longer when it came back on. But I guess it does work to even out peaks.
- danielharan 15y agoHaving spare capacity to handle peaks is very, very expensive. Entire plants sit idle 90% of the year.