Posted by Jamie in Green Articles, Green Products & Services | 1 Comment
Bringing in the World’s Most Efficient Solar Power
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Recently, the search for more affordable and efficient methods to convert sunlight into heat was reignited. According to Cyrus Moulton, solar panels have been literally yanked out from the White House roof way back in 1986, but as political will and financial incentives continue to rise, seeking new ways to harness the sun’s energy has come into fashion once again.
Two new solar thermal technologies were recently developed to make solar power more convenient and practical on various scales. These new thermal technologies were designed to work like photovoltaics. They focus sunlight in order to make heat instead of converting it directly into electricity.
The SunCatcher solar thermal system is capable of acquiring solar energy at 31.25% efficiency. So far, this is the highest amount achieved by this type of technology. Although the concept was developed by Tessera Solar, the whole thing was built by Stirling Energy Systems at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility in Sandia National Laboratories. The SunCatcher was built with 38-foot-wide dishes that are designed to gather an ample amount of heat energy to run a Stirling engine that in turn generates 25 kilowatts of electric power. This efficient solar thermal system is reported to carry out two of the largest solar contracts in the world. By 2014, the SunCatcher is planned to provide 1,600 megawatts of power to the Southern California region.
In addition, a team of MIT engineering students is also working to provide solar thermal systems to the large African region. The group works to bring a structure that has an off-grid system that operates on a smaller scale. So far, the team has come up with a microgenerator that produces 3 kilowatts of electric power, as well as hundreds of gallons of hot water a day with the use of readily available and inexpensive components.
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