The Sunflower Solar Harvester, being developed by the Swiss company Airlight Energy, tracks the sun like a sunflower and cools itself by pumping water through its veins like a plant. In the process, it produces heat, desalinated water, and refrigeration from the 12kW of energy it produces with just 10 hours of sunlight.
Flower power —
The Sunflower Solar Harvester, being developed by the Swiss company Airlight Energy, tracks the sun like a sunflower and cools itself by pumping water through its veins like a plant. In the process, it produces heat, desalinated water, and refrigeration from the 12kW of energy it produces with just 10 hours of sunlight.
Courtesy of airlight energy
At the core of the technology are IBM-designed water-cooled solar panels whose microchannels carry away the heat produced by the reflector mirrors. The flower-like array of reflectors concentrate the sun's energy more than 2000 times onto the six panels which each hold 25 photovoltaic chips.
Flower power —
At the core of the technology are IBM-designed water-cooled solar panels whose microchannels carry away the heat produced by the reflector mirrors. The flower-like array of reflectors concentrate the sun's energy more than 2000 times onto the six panels which each hold 25 photovoltaic chips.
courtesy of airlight energy
Developers say that it needs just a quarter of the panels to produce the same amount of power as conventional systems. Everything about its design is aimed at bringing down costs; what would normally require large and expensive solar mirrors is achieved with metallized foil of the type found in food packaging like potato chips.<br />
Flower power —
Developers say that it needs just a quarter of the panels to produce the same amount of power as conventional systems. Everything about its design is aimed at bringing down costs; what would normally require large and expensive solar mirrors is achieved with metallized foil of the type found in food packaging like potato chips.
courtesy of airlight energy
The system produces around 20kW of thermal power from 10 hours of sunlight, enough say the developers to power a low-temperature desalinator in coastal regions.
Flower power —
The system produces around 20kW of thermal power from 10 hours of sunlight, enough say the developers to power a low-temperature desalinator in coastal regions.
courtesy of airlight energy
Aimed at off-grid communities in arid and remote regions, the all-in-one system -- whose components can be transported in a single container and reassembled in situ - has been in development for more than two years but a 32-mirror commercial version could be on sale as early as mid-2017.
Flower power —
Aimed at off-grid communities in arid and remote regions, the all-in-one system -- whose components can be transported in a single container and reassembled in situ - has been in development for more than two years but a 32-mirror commercial version could be on sale as early as mid-2017.
courtesy of airlight energy
An artist's impression shows how the components could be packed into a shipping container and transported to off-grid locations.
An artist's impression shows how the components could be packed into a shipping container and transported to off-grid locations.
courtesy of airlight energy