Solar Thermal: Weapon of Choice in the War Against Coal?
posted on March 27th, 2008
Clean Technica just posted a great article clearly explaining why solar thermal power is an important part of the new energy equation. Perhaps the most common coal mindset complaint about anything solar is the idea that you might have no power on a cloudy day, or at night. The article points out two important factors:
- Every day during summer, natural gas and oil powered plants come online for the day to meet the tremendous demand of the nation’s air conditioners, and then shut down again at night. All kinds of solar solutions, including photovoltaic and solar thermal, can be used to help meet this peak power.
- Unlike photovoltaic cells, which turn sunlight directly into electrical current, solar thermal plants focus sunlight to create heat, and use the heat to spin turbines, just like almost every other conventional power plant. And as the Thermos people can tell you, it’s a lot easier to store heat than it is to store electricity.
Solar thermal builder Ausra claims that 90% of America’s energy needs could be met with Solar Thermal; I think that sounds a bit ambitious, but it’s becoming very clear that solar thermal energy can and should take a leading roll in the decades to come.
This rant filed under: Green Technology
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