From US 95 a 640-foot concrete tower can be seen for miles across Big Smokey Valley.  A ring of heliostats (computer controlled solar collector mirrors) nearly two miles across encircles the tower to beam solar energy to the receiver at the top of the tower.  Here is where the Crescent Dunes Solar Reserve gets really different; concentrated energy heats molten salt to 1000F+ which is stored so that the energy can be used later to generate electricity at night.  This is the first utility scale solar thermal storage installation in the country.  It is amazing to see…still plagued by operating problems-it is down for maintenance today…but interesting to get a look at the science that folks are attempting to apply to overcome the natural limitations of solar power generation.