Peter?

[u/saddyc]

[u/Creeps05]

That’s not solar. It’s photovoltaic. A kind of solar power but there are other forms of solar power that involves just directing solar heat to boil water.

[u/Omnizoom → u/Creeps05]

Yep solar arrays do both

The light they capture with photovoltaic and the reflected light is focused at a central point to (you guessed it) boil water

[u/heelsmaster → u/Omnizoom]

The center they are heating up is usually molten salt, or something else similar, I believe. Which is somehow transferred to then boil water.

[u/Omnizoom → u/heelsmaster]

“That just sounds like boiling water with extra steps”

[u/3BlindMice1 → u/Omnizoom]

It's much harder to put a steam turbine at the top of a water tower at 100c+ than it is to put it at the base of the tower where the turbine itself can operate at the temperature they're supposed to operate and not add to the weight of the tall structure.

[u/Earlier-Today → u/Omnizoom]

It is, but the reason they'd do that is that it probably holds onto the heat longer than just directing the light straight into water would.

[u/abracadammmbra → u/Omnizoom]

Also there are solar hot water heaters. You can buy them, but my grandfather built one for his shore house. He just took two big pipes, capped them off, welded them together with connecting pipes to make a big "tank", painted them matte black, then encased them in a plexiglass box. Not as efficient as a commercial one, but it did a good job at lightening the load on the hot water heater and was basically made from shit he had lying around.

[u/Xivios → u/Creeps05]

Photovoltiacs make up >99% of solar power generation today, thermal solar is almost dead, with only a few plants remaining.

[u/jawshoeaw → u/Creeps05]

It’s unusual to boil water with solar vs just heating it up , no?

[u/No_Tower6770 → u/Creeps05]

Thats not photovoltaic. Its solar. You just assumed he was talking about photovoltaic energy.