this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2025
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California Shuts Down Its Solar Thermal Plant 13 Years Early (www.instituteforenergyresearch.org)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by silence7@slrpnk.net to c/energy@slrpnk.net
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I'll note that this is a very atypical solar facility:

  • It burns significant amounts of methane gas for morning pre-heating
  • It's far less cost-effective than modern photovoltaics
  • Funding was from a mix of public money and a venture firm advised by RFK Jr.

I don't expect to see much more solar thermal built to replace it; photovoltaic has gotten too good and too cheap.

Edit: sorry about the source; only coverage so far

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[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

As far as I know, it needed to burn gas to get the water up to operating temperature each morning, then the sun light would take over to continue turning the water to steam.