New
York Times: Two companies in California are working on
trapping energy from the Sun when it’s shining for use
later when it is not. Solar thermal power uses the Sun’s
heat to boil water and generate electricity. The technologies
being developed by SolarReserve and BrightSource will rely on
molten salt to store the Sun’s energy because salt can
store far more heat than water can, writes Matthew Wald for the
New York Times. The stored power will be used
primarily to complement solar panels, which produce electricity
directly from sunlight. SolarReserve’s Nevada plant is
scheduled to start up next year, and BrightSource’s three
California plants should begin operating in 2016 and 2017.
Together, the four plants could power tens of thousands of
households. Unfortunately, solar power companies have been
fighting an uphill battle since last year’s bankruptcy of
Solyndra, which received $535 million in government loan
guarantees.
