With the adequate storage solution solar power plant can even generate electricity at night and thus overcome the intermittency issue. The latest proof to this comes from Spain where new Gemasolar heliostatic plant has a vat of molten salt that keeps the plant running for approximately 15 hours when it is dark.
How does this energy storage solution work? Well, the liquefied salt stores the superfluous heat generated during the day, basically meaning that the salt actually acts like some sort of gigantic thermal battery for driving the turbines when there's no more sunlight.
Once fully operational this solar power plant should produce around 110 GWh per year which is roughly enough to power 25,000 typical homes.
This project totaled $410m in costs because the plant has more than 2600 concentrically arranged mirrors. The main function of these mirrors is to concentrate solar energy towards a centrally located molten nitrate salt tank. After the rays converge the temperature of the salt rises to over 900°C so the water boils and drive steam turbines.
The implementation of thermal storage system in form of molten salt guarantees that the Gemasolar plant can operate for at least 6500 hours a year, which is up to three times longer when compared to other renewable projects.
Hopefully, we'll soon see many similar projects to this because this project gives proof that solar power plant could work well even when the sun goes down.
