Will China Save The ‘Other’ Solar Energy, Which Even Runs At Night?

Converting sunlight directly into electricity, the photovoltaic (PV) solar panel industry has dominated the solar generation market recently because of its astounding price drops. Prices have fallen 99 percent in the past quarter century and over 80 percent since 2008 alone. This has also helped to slow the growth of the “other” form of solar, concentrating solar thermal power (CSP), which uses sunlight to heat water and use the steam to drive a turbine and generator.

Fortunately, one country appears to be making a major bet on CSP — China. SolarReserve, the company that built the Crescent Dunes plant (pictured above) recently announced a deal with the Shenhua Group, the world’s largest coal provider, to build 1,000 megawatts of CSP with storage in China. And the country as a whole has plans to build some 10,000 megawatts of CSP in the next five years.

I say “fortunately” because CSP has one huge potential advantage compared to PV. The heat it generates can be stored over 20 times more cheaply than electricity — and with far greater efficiency. So CSP’s “killer app” is that it can provide power long after the sun has set — and it doesn’t disrupt the grid when a cloud passes overhead....
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/07/07/3789508/china-solar-energy-night/