Drawbacks
- Doesn't work on overcast days (whereas regular solar panels do, producing somewhat less power but still some[QUANTIFICATION needed]).
Types 💬 discussion If I want these to be links, then I should move the descriptions onto the corresponding pages. Summaries on this current page would then be: "large scale" and "small scale". Btw maybe i should use a different name instead of "solar thermal", since it can generate electricity too?
- Concentrated solar thermal - large arrays of mirrors focus sunlight on a single tower to produce high heats which can also generate electricity or be put to some other use. Pros: contains its own energy storage. Cons: typically only suitable for deserts, which are far away from where most people need power. High maintenance of keeping mirrors clean (and who's gonna live in the middle of nowhere to do it?) Talk: y'know how a lot of manufacturing / materials processing plants require high heat as their main source of energy? what if we could bring some of those industries close to where concentrated solar thermal can be generated? is that viable at all?
- Concentrator photovoltaics - basically a solar panel with a magnifying glass. Pros: could use fewer solar panel minerals than regular solar panels do, for the same amount of energy. Cons: doesn't work on overcast days - power output is almost zero, unlike regular solar panels. Also, complex motors to move the magnifying glass around on sunny days - probably takes a lot of energy to make, so probably low EROI[QUANTIFICATION needed]