Photovoltaics for Solar Heat?

Because modules are rapidly becoming cheaper, large open-air photovoltaic systems are set to be built in the earth’s sunbelt instead of solar thermal power plants. This would be problematic for the global energy turnaround. This is because, in comparison to photovoltaics, solar heat provides base load electricity, which is essential for safe power supply.

For Solar Millennium, the problems are currently coming thick and fast. The solar power plant constructor is still in dispute with its ex-advertising manager Utz Claassen about a severance package. In addition, the company is suspected of insider trading.
And now this too: The major flagship project of Solar Millennium, a parabolic trough power plant with 1000 Megawatt (MW) of capacity in the Californian city of Blythe, will not be built in the previously planned form. Instead of concentrated solar power (CSP) technology, which uses solar heat as the primary energy source by means of an absorber, photovoltaic (PV) modules are now set to be used. “Initially, we are starting in Blythe with a 500 Megawatt photovoltaic capacity,” explains Solar Millennium boss Christoph Wolff.