whoever invented this solar generator is

i57dwun4yb1pt8

is a freaking genius

http://grist.org/business-technology/solar-power-cheaper-than-coal-one-company-says-its-cracked-the-code/

CreepingDeath

They say they "solved" the tracking problem by stacking the panels in a cone shape.

But that means only one vertical segment, pointing directly at the sun will get the maximum sunlight, the others won't, or could even be in the shade.

Also rotating the panels around to cool them is probably going to create a lighthouse effect, dazzling drivers/aircraft in the vicinity.

It's a "different" approach, but I'm not going to run out and buy their shares...

Capt'n Midnight

; however, concentrating the light also creates immense amounts of heat,

as I suspected

it's all smoke and mirrors :pac:


[edit]

8c per watt is pretty cool,
8c per Kilowatt hour is meh
[/edit]

BUT solar is an area where the price is continually dropping and improvement are coming from all directions. So it's all good.


[edit]if the technobabble works then you should get the same effect by putting a wind turbine in front of normal solar panels

Phill Ewinn

Really big mouse wheel FTW. Horse sized like. Grass plus horse plus mouse wheel generator=win

Grayson

CreepingDeath wrote: »

They say they "solved" the tracking problem by stacking the panels in a cone shape.

But that means only one vertical segment, pointing directly at the sun will get the maximum sunlight, the others won't, or could even be in the shade.

Also rotating the panels around to cool them is probably going to create a lighthouse effect, dazzling drivers/aircraft in the vicinity.

It's a "different" approach, but I'm not going to run out and buy their shares...

But, but, couldn't they just build it in a desert? Or many miled from civilisation? maybe not in ireland, but in the US they do have quite a lot of hot sunny emptyness.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

lol @ creeping death

it spins rapidly , not one panel all the time pointed at the sun,

Capt'n Midnight

DaDumTish wrote: »

lol @ creeping death

it spins rapidly , not one panel all the time pointed at the sun,

[edit]on reflection it's just as dumb as it looks [/edit]

my understanding of it is that's it's like a lighthouse , the lens spins around the important bit in the centre

it's a solar concentrator - lenses / mirrors stuff

it would have low energy density and the angle of the cone would depend on where in the world it was deployed, also the energy to spin the optics unless that was wind powered

Cookie_Monster

i like the cartoon in that link, little tree like collections of them on the street, that'd be pretty cool.

Bad Santa

That's nothing.

PM me when they find way to easily produce 1.21 gigawatts. I need it for something I'm working on.

Esel

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

as I suspected

it's all smoke and mirrors :pac:



100:1 solar concentrators aren't new

cooling fans aren't new - there are even water cooled solar panels that utilise the heat for nefarious purposes

8c per kWh is pretty cool, if they can get the other costs to that level then we're talking


BUT solar is an area where the price is continually dropping and improvement are coming from all directions. So it's all good.


[edit]if the technobabble works then you should get the same effect by putting a wind turbine in front of normal solar panels

FYP.

MrCreosote

Bad Santa wrote: »

That's nothing.

PM me when they find way to easily produce 1.21 gigawatts. I need it for something I'm working on.

How's that flux capacitor coming along?

Cookie_Monster

Bad Santa wrote: »

That's nothing.

PM me when they find way to easily produce 1.21 gigawatts. I need it for something I'm working on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntly_Power_Station here you go, even has some spare. Not the most mobile piece of kit going though

CreepingDeath

DaDumTish wrote: »

lol @ creeping death

it spins rapidly , not one panel all the time pointed at the sun,

It doesn't matter how rapidly a hemisphere-like object spins, there'll still be a significant percentage which aren't pointed directly at the sun.

The solar panels are at optimal efficiency pointed perpendicular to the sun.

It all depends on whether an individual solar panel can have "too much" sunlight, in which case rotating an array of them like a spit-roast have some value.

Even so, only spinning them on one axis, means there'll still be a significant number of them not perpendicular to the sun vertically.

Capt'n Midnight

Esel wrote: »

FYP.

:eek:

8c / KWh - that's roadkill in the US now they've got cheap fracking gas



Forget everything I said

this is just PR , nothing new , they are just trying to put a spin on it

antodeco

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

.. they are just trying to put a spin on it

self powered or by the wind?

Duggys Housemate

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

:eek:

8c / KWh - that's roadkill in the US now they've got cheap fracking gas



Forget everything I said

this is just PR , nothing new , they are just trying to put a spin on it

surely 8c /Kwh is good.

I like the idea, just wonder about the energy costs of rotating the pods. In any case we can now stop worrying about the future.

Capt'n Midnight

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

surely 8c /Kwh is good.

I like the idea, just wonder about the energy costs of rotating the pods. In any case we can now stop worrying about the future.

8c/KWh
is €80/MWh

http://www.sem-o.com/Pages/default.aspx - on other days the base price here is 3c

http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/01/frackings-future

The spot price for natural gas traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit a record low of $1.82 per million British thermal units (MMBTU) last April 20—down 86 percent from a high of $12.69 in June 2008. Even at recent, somewhat higher prices, natural gas is now significantly cheaper than either diesel fuel or gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis: a little more than one-tenth the wholesale, spot prices of about $3 per gallon for those liquid fuels.

all they've done is simplify the job of solar tracking by using 360 degrees of panels

cooling could just as easily be done with solar chimneys

Duggys Housemate

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

8c/KWh
is €80/MWh

http://www.sem-o.com/Pages/default.aspx - on other days the base price here is 3c

http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/01/frackings-future

all they've done is simplify the job of solar tracking by using 360 degrees of panels

cooling could just as easily be done with solar chimneys

I am seeing the price go from 30€-172€ in that chart, average is therefore 10€/MWH or 10c/KWH.

I suspect that this is for individuals rather than suppliers, in any case.

Capt'n Midnight

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

I am seeing the price go from 30€-172€ in that chart, average is therefore 10€/MWH or 10c/KWH.

I suspect that this is for individuals rather than suppliers, in any case.

that's here in the middle of the week at the coldest time of the year

in the US 8c/khw is roadkill

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/05/first_solar_cheap_power_el_paso/

Bloomberg is reporting something of a world first: a solar facility in Macho Springs, New Mexico, is planning to sell its energy to the grid substantially below the price of coal-fired power.

The facility is under construction by First Solar, the news agency reports, and its customer is El Paso Electric. First Solar expects the Macho Springs plant to come on-line in 2014.

El Paso Electric has agreed to buy power from Macho Spring at 5.79 cents (US) per kilowatt-hour, with Bloomberg models putting the price of coal-fired power at more than 12 cents per kilowatt-hour.

which beats the 'revolutionary' 8c/kwh price

Pottler

The gennys a bit meh, but I wanna see pictures of "Macho Springs". I reckon the locals there all look like extras from a Village People video.

"So son, where you from??"

"I'm a Macho man myself".

"Righhtt".