IFL Science
By Tom Hale
July 15, 2026
Solar panels are great at harnessing clean, renewable energy, but they have the major setback of relying on the Sun, which selfishly only shines for part of the day. In the deserts of China, though, a new solution has come to the fore: a silver sea of mirrors hooked up to a network of molten salt.
In the Gobi plains of Hami, Xinjiang Province, it’s all systems go for a form of power plant that uses thousands of mirrors to collect sunlight during the day, then stores energy in molten salt to supply power at night.
Super Sleuth
