Are Fuel Cells the Key to Solar Thermal Technology?
Why are photovoltaic panels more popular than solar thermal collectors on homes? One big reason is easy storage. New technology may change that When it comes to energy storage, solar panels have it easy. Homeowners with PV panels on their roofs effectively store power by shuttling electricity generated in the daytime onto the grid, said Jane Davidson, a professor at the University of Minnesota and the director of the Solar Energy Laboratory there, during a presentation at the Fifth Germany California Solar Day taking place at PG&E headquarters in San Francisco today. It’s not so easy in solar thermal. Concentrated solar thermal plants in the desert store heat from the sun in large tanks of molten salt. That can be used to create steam to run a generator for a few hours after the sun goes down. But in homes it is not so easy. Although roughly 75 percent of the homes and commercial buildings in the U.S. could potentially derive some of their power from solar systems, most homes aren’t lo
