Latest Updates: solar concentrator RSS

• Balloon Type Solar Concentrator
  Srikant Rajan 05:33:36 pm on October 5, 2008 | 1 | # |
  Tags: photovoltaic, PV, solar cell, solar concentrator, solar energy, solar panel, thinfilm solar

  Cool Earth Solar has a balloon up in air.No, it isn’t the kind of balloon you would like to play with it, but the kind that concentrates solar power to generate electricity.The company uses an inflatable thin-film balloon(Solar concentrator) that upon inflation focuses sunlight onto photovoltaic cell held at its focal point.Technically speaking this design should produce the maximum amount of power concentration as it focuses sunlight from all directions. A single cell in this concentrator generates about 300 to 400 times the electricity of a cell without a concentrator.So does this mean there would be no more rows and rows of solar panels in the field but just one balloon hovering in the air?

  Well Cool Earth is constructing a prototype plant in Livermore to test out different solar designs and get some proof of this technology.This winter, Cool Earth will launch its first commercial-grade power plant. The plant will be relatively small— only 1.4 MW— but Cool Earth plans on launching a full-size plant (10 to 30 MW) by next summer.

   

• A “ Window “ that Produces Power
  Srikant Rajan 12:40:13 pm on July 14, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: covalent solar, dye solar, MIT, solar cells, solar concentrator, solar energy, solar window

  Now it may not be all that “ cool ” to close that window in your room ,if you are serious about reducing your power consumption and going green at the same time. Researchers at MIT are currently investigating a technology that allows power generation by adding certain additives to windows in buildings. This process utilizes solar cells that are placed at the glass edges as opposed to spreading them across the flat surface of the glass. This allows reduction in silicon used in solar cells, thus lowering their costs. A further improvement is a method to force sunlight to window edges (where solar cells are placed), filter and concentrate it to generate power.

  Silicon costs have been a major factor driving up the prices of solar energy. This approach eliminates requirement of large quantities of silicon in addition to doing away with supporting mirrors, lenses and trackers. However the quantity of power generated may not be adequate to prompt installation of this system. MIT researchers, however, plan to start a venture -  Covalent Solar to further refine this technology and anticipate a commercial product within 3 years.