With increasing oil prices and the hazards associated with nuclear energy, it is more sensible to make best use of energy from nature. Wind and water not promising availability and reliability, solar energy seems like the best alternative. Principle of harnessing solar energy is known for a long time now and has been employed for various purposes. But to make it more efficient, it is necessary to concentrate the energy and harness the maximum possible which will also cut the cost.
Cool Earth Solar has found a way to meet this need with Inflatable Solar. It works by concentrating the sun rays and focusing it on to photovoltaic cells, increasing the energy impacting the cells many times over. This cuts the cost of solar energy usage largely. Besides, the design cost is also 400x lesser per collected area than using conventional mirrors. It is built in a 2 meter wide bulb which protects the mirrors from any damage and can withstand even 130 miles per hour wind. The bubbles with the mirrors are suspended on support cables to control the movement of the collectors.
For generating power on a large scale, a many series of Inflatable Solar needs to be installed. However, space occupied is not an issue because they are supported on grid poles, below which regular activities such as faming can be carried-out. The system being the first of its kind and practically implemental, is soon expected to be patented.
via : Nextenergynews
