one of the biggest drawbacks to solar power plants is their inability to generate electricity at night or during cloudy days

a new venture called SolarReserve hopes to change all that using salt!

Their program would save and store captured solar energy in molten salt, the new solar plant will produce up to 500 megawatts of peak power — comparable to what a regular coal power plant can produce, only with no greenhouse gas emissions.

Unlike other solar power plants, SolarReserve’s will be able to produce electricity at night or in inclement weather.

one megawatt is enough power roughly 1,000 U.S. households

The company hopes to build 10 plants over the next 10 to 15 years.

their use of molten salt, a mixture of sodium and potassium nitrate, instead of water or oil, allows the heat to be stored for use when sun is not present

molten salt is used in solar power tower systems because it is liquid at atmosphere pressure, it provides an efficient, low-cost medium in which to store thermal energy