The cost of solar pv drops so low that solar thermal’s in trouble.

This plant in California uses solar thermal, directing the sun’s energy to heat water to make steam to drive a turbine. Nowadays it’s cheaper to use photovoltaic solar cells to generate power directly. That poses a problem for this power plant. “The Ivanpah solar power plant formally opened in 2014 on roughly 5 square miles of federal land near the California-Nevada border. Though it was hailed at the time as a breakthrough moment for clean energy, its power has been struggling to compete with cheaper solar technologies.” ~ learn more