Can you point to a single csp installation the produces equivalent power to existing coal plant 24/7? Would it work in the US Midwest or North East?
As a cherry picked example, Minneapolis has roughly 200 more annual sunshine hours than Houston.
Obviously somewhere like Phoenix blows those numbers out of the water, but solar is still very economical in the Midwest. I see new utility scale solar farms popping up here all the time.
That's very interesting because what I recall from about 15 years ago is that Minneapolis was slightly behind Houston in that regard. I wonder if it's just variation within the error band or it's been impacted by climate change?
Regardless, here in rural MN I see a lot of new barns/sheds going up with solar panels on the roof whereas 15 years ago they would either have used generators or paid to have AC power run all the way out there.
The link in the parent post contains a map that would indicate most suitable location by far for such an installation would be in the South West.
However, without an installation with a proven track record, this seems kind of like pie in the sky thinking.