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Maybe I missed it somewhere in the write up but in what way is the solar system its own backup? It seemed like the battery was just subbed for a combustion system using stored heat?

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In the way that that will make you click the link.

It's a weird way to phrase it. It's a solar generator that shares it's turbines with a conventional generator.

I was picturing a solar-charged battery running a light above the panel overnight

Not quite. It's a solar thermal (heat generator) that feeds a heat storage facility via an air-flow heat exchanger. That exchanger can alternatively be fed hot air generated using any other technology, including burning fossil fuels.

So, the heat storage facility is "source neutral". In addition, precisely how the stored heat is used "downstream" is also not a central part of the design, but turbines etc. are a likely option.

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