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Renewable Energy Systems
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Heliotube – PV at half the cost
Submitted by Sergio Ferreira on Fri, 2007-05-11 11:08.
Soliant Energy, a company based in Pasadena, California, presents a new photovoltaic system that concentrates sunlight and promises to cut PV price by half.
Heliotube targets commercial rooftops and large ground mounted systems but it will also be available for residential customers in 2008. The installation is identical to a traditional PV panel as well as the dimensions and weight, coupling with low maintenance.
The new feature is that these new panels use auto-tracking mirrors and lenses that concentrate sunlight in a small area, reducing the amount of expensive silica used by 88%.
After reducing the price of the equipment, Soliant Energy is working to develop a new system that could produce three times as much power by area.
Great news and testimony to the "learning curve"
This is an interesting case the proves the dynamics of market development of exactly the sort that learning curves "predict". Halving the costs at this stage tis a quantum leap closer to the magic 1 USD per Watt.
This design however seems to partly rely on moving parts, which makes operation and maintenance an object. Or is the moving just a way to portray the focusing principle?
Solar concentrating system to improve performance...
The design of this product combines both lenses and mirrors to create a more compact system. each module is made of rows of troughs about the widt and depth of a gutter. Inside each trough, a strip of silicon photovoltaic material runs at the bottom. As light enters, it is reflected by the mirrors and focused on the strip by a lens.
The auto tracking system is designed so that the troughs can follow the arc of the sun across the sky, thereby increasing the eficiency by capturing more sunlight. According to the company, this new equipment eases the installation and requires reduced maintenance.
The question is: how do they define "reduced".