Because you can never have too much tan
Posted on 09/26/2014 9:00:56 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Because you can never have too much tan
Biggish Blue boffins have come up with a way of increasing the sun's radiation by 2,000 times while also producing fresh water and air conditioning. IBM and Switzerland-based Airlight Energy today announced a new parabolic dish uses a dense array of water-cooled solar chips that can convert 80 per cent of the sun's radiation into useful energy.
Dubbed the “Concentrator PhotoVoltaics (CPV) system the gear which looks like a 33-foot-high sunflower, can generate 12 kilowatts of electrical power and 20 kilowatts of heat on a sunny day — enough to power several average homes. Bruno Michel, the project's lead scientists at IBM Research in Switzerland did not say what it would do in England and Ireland where sun is something that other countries have.
The mirrors concentrate the sun on the chips to produce electricity. Normally, the chips would ignite, since they reach temperatures of 1,500 degrees Celsius. IBM scientists are taking a page from the supercomputer playbook to keep them at a relatively cool 105 degrees with a water radiator system.
The dense array of multi-junction photovoltaic (PV) chips, mirrors and the electrical receiver are encased in a large inflated transparent plastic enclosure to protect the system from rain or hail.
Same here. So far solar has not been practical for us, even with our huge electric bills. I would love for someone to come up with a simple, cheaper, working system.
This is not a new idea but a good one. The problem is that at smaller scales for a single home it is hard to make all the equipment payback in a short time.
This should have virtually no impact on birds compared to Ivanpah which has thousands of times more mirror area and great distances covered for birds to fly through.
IBM has lots of experience cooling chips inside mainframe computers. I saw a grid of 192 processors each with a metal rod in contact that conducted heat to a coolant fluid. This has long been the limiting factor in concentrated photovotaic conversion.
The intermiitancy of sun light problem remains.
Plus what controlling entity is going to allow ugly parabolics on the landscape?
In my opinion, solar has the potential to be effective at shaving off the electrical peaks associated with cooling during the heat of the day. As a base load it is quite difficult without significant advances in storage cost/efficiency.
It’ll be feasible if there’s a way to capture and store both the electricity and heat efficiently. Typically, you don’t need a lot of excess heat on bright, sunny days, but you might at night.
A 12Kw system would be ideal for one or two homes, if excess generation can be stored during the day for use at night. Offgrid rural users might be able do some kind of pumped storage, if acreage and topography allow, to supplement a moderate battery/inverter system. Less rural users would need a large enough battery array to handle the nighttime load. Suburban users could just couple to the grid and make money during the day when rates are highest and buy back at night when rates are lower.
see http://www.builditsolar.com/ for do it yourself ideas
see http://sunelec.com/ for cheap PV
You want dirt cheap redneck hot water - get this http://www.uline.com/BL_2105/Black-Heavy-Duty-Poly-Tubing
Go to Hardware store and get hose clamps and adapters to feed it with a garden hose (just don’t drink it). Lay it out in the sun. On a 70 degree day I got 140 degree water really fast. 1500 feet for $69 is enough hot water to heat a pool. I use about 20 feet rolled up to take camping with a stripped shower head. Nothing like a hot shower when camping. :-)
I HOPE that there is a “scram” like system to move a counter mirror into the beam when main “core” coolant fails else the cost of a simple water leak is going to be pretty high.
yes.. about 1/2 the year.
Expect utilities to slap a surcharge on solar system homes. Their argument is; we extended lines to your home and keep the juice flowing based on your continued use.
I’m working on a dark concentrator myself. It seems to work pretty well but it sucks the electricity out of the house. :-(
Honestly, I can agree with a minimum charge. If you stay connected, you are trying to get their infrastructure as your back up to your own system. Backup should not be provided for free.
We built new in 2001 and put in a ground source heat/AC system. Power bill goes down in summer months.
There are four 200 foot wells under our driveway bringing in 59 degree liquid year round.
The floor in the main level has thermal heat from the GSHP.
I looked hard at that when I moved into my current place. Was it expensive?
Many thanks. I intend to do just that.
Things like this might be useful for easing the burden on the grid of peak daylight times, but they are less than useful as you near dusk, and until some time after dawn. If it makes economic sense, then by all means, deploy the suckers. If it doesn't then it's good research that I applaud and await further developments.
My reaction exactly.
We studied several options while planning the house and a GSHP stood out as a proven system with hundreds of installs. If they’re being sold in Minnesota, they should work in your climate.
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