IBM Visions 2000 Suns Strong Solar Collector
In Greek mythology, Icarus, the son of Daedalus, was known to fly too close to the sun for his own good. Current solar technology is analogous to that myth in the sense that the devices are prone to harness only a threshold energy from the sun or they shall fry. The ridiculous expense, slow production and a constant requirement of rare Earth minerals only provide just enough for the solar engineering to work at a below average efficiency. Why, there's a reason you don't see the renewable energy revolution just yet. But scientists don't let an opportunity to progress pass by. They are thinking at the nanoscale, they are thinking the Icarus from Danny Boyle's Sunshine and not the wax-feathered Greek. An affordable photo-voltaic system capable of gathering the power of 2000 suns is set to become the brainchild of the collaboration between IBM, Airlight energy and Swiss university.
High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system is a huge parabolic dish, home to a number of mirror facets and affixed to a tracking system that determines the best angle with respect to the position of sun. The mirrors reflect the sun's rays onto several microchannel-liquid cooled receivers. Each 1x1 cm photovolatic chip can potentially generate power equivalent to 200-250 watts on a typical sunny day. Taking inspiration from the hierarchical blood supply system of a human, the cooling system of the collector is devised so as to use a very small pumping power. A lot of heat that is absorbed is usually redundant, but instead of dissipating it, the HCPVT system will put this into use to provide drinkable water. Needless to say, such a system would be a boon to areas deficient in sustainable energy, drinkable water and cool air. More than 30 percent of collected solar radiation is converted into electrical energy and the waste heat is efficiently recovered for better use. Fancy finding this in the middle of a desert, totally beats an oasis!
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