Big time solar

The US administration provided a loan guarantee of $737 million to SolarReserve on Thursday to construct the first large-scale solar power plant that stores energy and provides electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The plant utilizes what is called thermal energy storage to store heat collected from the sun, which is then utilized by the power plant to boil water and produce steam. The steam then turns a steam turbine which generates electricity. Various versions of solar thermal plants exist.

Some collect heat and stores it in molten salt which is then circulated to the boiler. The boiler turns water into steam which then rushes through a steam turbine.
This type collects heat and stores it in molten salt which is then circulated to the boiler where water is converted to steam to drive a turbine!

17,500 heliostats focus or concentrate sunlight onto the collector at the top of a 640-foot tall tower until it reaches a temperature of 1,050 degrees Fahrenheit.
The power plant’s electricity generation capacity is 110-MW, which makes it one of the larger-scale solar power plants.

For those who oppose solar on the grounds of storage and intermittency, here then is the answer. Still, it does require land! But wastelands and deserts would be ideal, right?