Solar Energy After Sunset?

The most promising renewable energy source these days is a solar. But what about solar power plant that continues producing electricity after the sun goes down?

A company called SolarReserve has taken a step toward making that a reality, filing an application with California regulators to build a 150-megawatt solar farm that will store seven hours’ worth of the sun’s energy in the form of molten salt.

SolarReserve

A California company hopes to store solar power by focusing thousands of mirrors on millions of gallons of liquefied salt. An artist’s rendering of such a solar plant is shown above.

A German company, Solar Millennium, is currently building a plant in Spain that also stores heat in molten salt. But the United States may be a better market, said Mr. Murphy, because prices paid by utilities vary so much; it might even pay to gather heat in the morning and sell it as electricity in the afternoon, when the prices — and demand — are much higher.

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/solar-power-when-the-sun-goes-down/

and

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/storing-solar-power-in-salt/