Pillar of Salt: Solar Power After Sunset

November 02, 2015

The biggest problem with solar power is the inability to compete with natural gas during peak demand at night time. But, it looks like scientists are making good progress to resolve this issue. An innovative solar thermal design could turn the tide in the first commercial-scale implementation in the USA.

More than a million sq. meter of mirrors focus sunlight on a heat receiver atop a 165-meter-high tower and it can generate power for the Las Vegas Strip at nighttime.  The 110 MW plant is nearing completion in the Crescent Dunes and it’s due to come on line by end of the year.  Crescent Dunes would be the first of many such molten-salt towers.

The project aims to generate the cheapest solar power and provide up to 10 hrs of power after sunset when the photovoltaics becomes idle. Las Vega’s nightlife that routinely stretches toward midnight can use the power for its unusually late night demand peak. The company SolarReserve also won a US $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a ceramic receiver that can withstand 732 °C.

At present, solar thermal makes the most sense in markets, natural gas is limited and becoming pricey, which makes gas-fired plants less attractive during the peak demand. 

Source: http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/a-tower-of-molten-salt-will-deliver-solar-power-after-sunset