We hear a lot about how we're on track for solar power reaching cost-parity with conventional power sources.
One of the hurdles for grid-provided solar power is it's intermittent nature: Â when the sun isn't shining solar doesn't power.
Some new research looks at concentrated solar power as a method of alleviating this issue.
CSP involves the use of mirrors to focus sunlight onto a liquid, rapidly bringing it up to extremely high temperatures. The resulting heat can be used immediately to generate electricity, or some fraction of it can be stored and used to drive generators later. Depending on the details of the storage, CSP can typically generate electricity for at least eight hours after the Sun sets, and some plants have managed to produce power around the clock during the summer.
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Analysis suggests that solar thermal can provide baseline power
But it requires careful coordination across multiple plants.
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The issue has never been about generation but always about transmission.Â
I think you meant "not only been about generation".
Transmission and storage are huge pain in the ass problems to solve. Â They are solvable though.