Clean Technica, Steve Hanley, 12/07/2017
There has been a lot of talk lately about renewable energy not being up to the task of supplying reliable baseload power. The sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow, detractors claim, so how can utility companies expect to rely on either? Pintail Power, based in Silicon Valley, says its new patented Dispatchable Solar Combined Cycle technology is the answer.
If you follow renewable energy news, you are familiar with the concept of “time shifting.” In essence, that means collecting electricity from renewable sources when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing and storing it for use later in the day. Time shifting strategies include pumped hydro — using excess power to pump water uphill during the day and letting it flow back downhill later, spinning electrical turbines along the way.