4 ms·
I wish that, when quoting the maximum output of a power plant, news articles would also quote the capacity factor - basically, the percent of the maximum output
by trothamel 14y ago
I wish that, when quoting the maximum output of a power plant, news articles would also quote the capacity factor - basically, the percent of the maximum output that a plant achieves long-term.
This plant is likely to have around a 40% capacity factor, which is much better than the 20% or so photovoltaic solar achieves, but it's much lower than the 85-90% that baseload plants achieve.
- excuse-me 14y agoIf it's peak capacity syncs with peak demand for air-conditioning that might work. Environmentally you would probably do much better (energy wise) by covering the roofs of building in Las Vegas with similar mirrors to lower their albedo and reduce air conditioning use.
- mchannon 14y agoCapacity factor is location- and weather-dependent, and not always known for certain with a new technology (or in this case a known technology this much larger). Concentrated solar thermal also allows for storage, making the capacity factor percentage adjustable, and allowing for on-peak optimization, which would have a lower capacity factor but a significantly higher benefit to the power company.