One of the challenges facing renewable energy is that periods of peak supply and demand don’t always coincide. But SolarReserve, a California company, might just have found a solution and pointed to the future of solar power with its Crescent Dune Solar Energy Project in the Nevada desert.

Most solar facilities use the familiar-looking photovoltaic cells to take the sun’s energy and turn it into electricity then and there. Crescent Dune takes another tack entirely, using 17,500 heliostat mirrors in place to reflect and focus the sun’s energy onto a tower that heats up molten salt. This molten salt can then be used to generate electricity whenever it’s needed—and not just when the sun is shining. The facility is projected to come online next summer and we have to say, this approach isn’t just innovative, it’s also pretty cool.

For more details, check out Wired’s video profiles, part 1 and part 2. And listen to the takeaway from SolarReserve’s CEO, Kevin Smith: “If you look at whether solar could provide 100 percent of the electricity supply at some point in the future, the answer really is yes.”

Part 1