New Concentrated Solar Tech: Simple, Cheap and Efficient

[tinrobot]

Morgan Solar, a Toronto-based company launched last summer, believes it has the answer to creating simple and cheap solar concentrators.

While other companies are working to make solar cheaper by using mirrors or lenses to magnify sunlight that is directed into solar cells, Morgan Solar takes a different approach. Their system uses a thin sheet of acrylic to concentrate sunlight 750 times. The sunlight is directed to a tiny cell on the edge of the plastic, greatly reducing the amount of material needed.

Though Morgan Solar has competitors in the concentrated solar field, the company claims that their design is more efficient and less likely to break than other systems. And since their product requires so few materials—just aluminum, acrylic, and PV—it will be four times cheaper than other concentrated solar technologies.

http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/04/new-concentrated-solar-tech-simple-cheap-and-efficient/

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Looked at the company's site and it seems like a viable concept the acrylic panels work almost like fiber optics, guiding the light to the edge of the panel. Here's some images:

[Beregond2]

1. Coolness!

[Vincardog]

2. Sounds good. Where do I get a few dozen?

[kristopher]

3. Sounds good but I have two questions

How are they dealing with heat?

What is the lifespan of the optical properties of the acrylic?

I know you can't answer, I'm just saying...

But I really like these flat-panel approaches (ala the MIT one mentioned).

[phantom power]

4. Here's what they say about cooling:

"Heat is dissipated without the need for expensive or sophisticated cooling systems, and extra protection or enclosures are unnecessary."
http://www.morgansolar.com/fulldescription.php

I wonder if they're using some creative parsing of the phrase "sophisticated." I suppose you could argue that a liquid-cooling system isn't that sophisticated. I find it hard to believe they can use a passive cooling system at 750 suns. But maybe that's just me.

[kristopher]

5. Thanks. A little more on heat (2nd link)

http://www.morgansolar.com/blog/2008/09/05/hcpv-systems/

http://www.morgansolar.com/blog/

[phantom power]

6. huh. passive it is, I guess.

Even after seeing them say it, I find it hard to believe. Oh well.