Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by mc32 2448 days ago
If deployed at scale (similar to PV) does this reduce the need for battery reservoirs?
1 comments

I don't think it will reduce the need for energy storage. If it does, it might be in some marginal cases and by a small amount. This is because the power generated using this approach is quite a bit less than what you can get from solar. So for any conventional uses, PV+storage will always be the winner. I think the real advantage for this might be for low-power, long-duration applications where battery cycles can be a challenge. The other big scenario is polar climates, where there's low solar insolation for several months.
> I think the real advantage for this might be for low-power, long-duration applications where battery cycles can be a challenge

Correct me if I'm wrong but I guess it wouldn't make much sense to use something like that on a LEO small satellite right? But sounds pretty cool and handy to have such a setup on something larger like a lunar base right?