Airlight Energy has created the Solar Sunflower, which utilises different types of solar power in one and is four times better than standard solar setups.
Solar power can be generated in two forms- photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal energy.
Solar photovoltaic captures the sun’s rays and converts it straight into energy, however solar thermal energy absorbs the heat from the sun via liquid to use as hot water or steam.
The creation of the Solar Sunflower
The head of research at Swiss company Airlight Energy, Gianluca Ambrosetti, wanted to know what would happen if he combined these two types into one big sun guzzling energy source.
So, with the help of his team and IBM Research, he started doing experiments with mirrors made from aluminium, which double as solar PV panels.
Though they held a lot of energy, they were susceptible to over heating.
To over come this issue, they added solar thermal energy technology to cool the panels with converted steam (warm water).
This allowed clusters of aluminium reflectors to increase their sunlight absorption to a point where they could concentrate the sun’s rays into an equivalent of 5,000 suns- a process called High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal (HCPVT).
The Sunflower consists of six ‘petals’, each which contain six reflectors, and at the focus point of these are six collectors.
The collectors have an array of array of gallium-arsenide (GaAs) photovoltaic cells- a highly efficient but very expensive means of converting sunlight into electricity.
The end result was a huge mirrored satellite dish that could potentially be the future of solar energy.
Why are they so good?
The HCPVT system’s efficiency rate of converting sunlight into energy sits at around 80 per cent, in comparison to the previous-best solar panels, which converted up to 46 per cent.
Standard residential solar systems have an efficiency rate of around 15-20 per cent, but this is still cheaper than electricity from the grid!
The combination of both solar PV and solar thermal allows the Solar Sunflower to exceed all that regular solar panels can do.
Typically, a full roof of solar panels can produce around 500 watts of power, however the Sunflower can produce 12,000 watts, in addition to 21,000 watts of solar-steam energy.
The Solar Sunflower. Image: IBM Research
I’m sold! How can I get one?
The Solar Sunflower is expected to be made available for sale by 2016 for early adopters, and commercial production will commence by 2017.
However, they aren’t cheap.
Although there’s no official price, estimates are sitting at around $45,000 each, which is around double the cost of your average home solar system.
Since the Solar Sunflower can generate four times as much wattage, this price is kind of expected.
Before you rush out to buy one, keep in mind they aren’t as inconspicuous as rooftop solar panels- they are around 7.75 metres tall with a dish area of about 40 square metres.
Although a Solar Sunflower can power a handful of homes at once, they still aren’t a very practical option yet.
Nevertheless, this is a great step forward in renewable energy technology, and it’s innovative ideas like this that will make the transition to 100 per cent clean energy a smooth process.
Photo courtesy of Sterling College
