This article is not as detailed as others I've seen but it does bring the topic of concentrated solar power, which concentrates and stores the sun's heat, to a general readership and adds informaiton on the history of its development. The author writes, "So what do we need to do to ramp up CSP? Interestingly, most CSP executives don't talk much about the need for government R&D. They mostly need policies aimed at creating initial market demand that would help bring down costs quickly over the next several years. One such policy is a so-called national renewable portfolio standard, which would require utilities to get a minimum percentage of their electricity from new renewable forms of power, or purchase such power from other utilities. After that, the typical manufacturing learning curves and economies of scale -- plus a market price for carbon dioxide set by the cap-and-trade system -- should do the rest. That means Congress and the president must renew the 30 percent solar energy investment tax credit through 2016."