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> That doesn't really work because solar can't produce at night

photovoltaic no, molten salt yes

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_Dunes_Solar_Energy_...

btw, driving by them at daytime is pretty weird... the collectors look literally like close-up stars floating above the surface

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Sure, and so does hydro and geothermal and biomass.

But people are interested in photovoltaics because they're cost-competitive (during the day at least).

Are those actually more environment-friendly than nuclear?

Seems like those would take up lots of land area and easily fry and possibly blind animals, especially birds that get too close.

They do look cool though.

Depends on a case by case basis. You'd need a desert, the South of Spain, Greece or Texas. Just like geothermal, it's very location specific, whereas one could deploy a nuclear reactor on the Moon or Mars.

Maybe a bit nitpicking, but solar would even work better on moon and mars due to the lack of atmosphere. But yes, here on earth it is very location specific.

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