Dear JP Morgan, page-46

If only it were that easy Deano.

With typical solar panel efficiency of about 20%, even getting twice the solar energy into the ponds than the current method (directly), would require 5 hectares of solar panels for every hectare of pond.
Now, that assumes that all of the current direct energy to the ponds is "used", which it isn't, since some reflection occurs and some energy is lost.
Let's assume for a sec that for a pond, only 20% of the solar energy reaching it is "used".... That puts us back to needing 1 hectare of solar panels for each hectare of ponds, in order to double the energy getting to those ponds....
Why not just build bigger ponds?
Cheaper than panels for sure, no?
With >700ha ponds earmarked for 25ktpa, that might be somewhere around 700ha solar panels to bump the output up to perhaps 50ktpa.
700ha solar panels is approx a 1,400,000 kW or 1.4 GW solar installation. Big!
If ponds currently "use" more than 20% of the solar energy reaching them, then that 1.4 GW installation only gets bigger...

Happy to be corrected if my numbers are a bit skew-if.

I'd love for there to be a way to economically speed the evaporation/concentration process, but I haven't quite discovered it yet....

Cheers