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There used to be a company that tried to do this to directly generate electricity: eSolar (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/an-interview-with-esolars-bill-gross/ ht
by soist 2y ago
There used to be a company that tried to do this to directly generate electricity: eSolar (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/an-interview-with-esolars-bill-gross/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/an-interview-with-esolars-bill-...)
- hn_throwaway_99 2y agoThere are lots of companies that used heliostats to generate electricity, but that's not really a problem anymore. My understanding is that: 1. Photovoltaic panels absolutely cratered in price, so they are, generally, much more economical. 2. Not mentioned in TFA but these things have environmental concerns because they are basically bird killing machines. Any bird unfortunate enough to fly through the concentrated "death rays" is instantly fried to a crisp. So these things need solutions like drones to keep birds away. Generating gas from solar is an attractive option because it's then basically just another form of storage. But it would be great if we could generate gas from solar to power existing gas power plants. The primary problem is that the efficiency of generating gas from (solar-powered) electricity is quite low.