Thermal-power plants which store heat intended for over cast days could possibly address many of the difficulties with storing solar energy. Solar advocates like to brag that merely a couple of hundred square kilometers worth of photovoltaic solar panels placed in Southwestern deserts could possibly power the United States. Their particular strategies contain a warning, needless to say: with no backup energy plants or costly purchases in massive batteries, flywheels, or additional energy-storage systems, this solar power supply would likely vary significantly with each and every passing cloud (along with the daily rise and fall as well as seasonal ebbs and flows). Solar power startup company Ausra, located in Palo Alto, believes they have the answer: Owner's Engineer Services Power Plant that will convert sunlight into steam and efficiently store heat for cloudy days. "Fossil-fuel supporters normally point out that solar cannot get the job done, that solar cannot operate in ...