I might be in the minority here, but I am rooting for thermal solar power. And that is mainly because I like decentralisation of power.

This might seem contradictory, but we should not forget that political power does not only reside in owning power-production, but also in producing the machinery that collects power. As I see it PV is for the forseeable future a high-tech industry, requiring ultra-clean rooms and really expensive machinery. Like the manufacture of medicines or chemicals. Thermal solar is more akin to refrigerators, it is no piece of cake to build but it is on a lower level of technology.

The countries around the equator where sunlight is plentiful rarely have medical and chemical industry. On the other hand, there is probably more refrigerator repairmen then in rich (and therefore wasteful socities). So when it comes to global power balances I am rooting for thermal solar power because it is more likely to decentralise political power to the countries having plentiful sunlight and little power - in both senses - today.

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