Smitty Two wrote:
In article , dpb wrote:

David Nebenzahl wrote:
http://www.solfocus.com/en/technology

"SolFocus' leading CPV technology combines high-efficiency solar cells
with advanced concentrating optics to provide high energy yield using
just 1/1000 the amount of photovoltaic material used in traditional
photovoltaic systems."


Is this the top sekrit technology that Smitty Two is working on?
Don't know but the 1000:1 concentration ratio would fit his posting as
does the dual-axis tracker...would seem a likely candidate, indeed.

Reasonable ideas certainly and much more practical approach than "orders
of magnitude" increases in efficiencies of the conversion cell.

--

Shhh. Next thing you guys know, if you keep talking about it,
economically viable solar will be on Letterman.

Yep, our system uses many of the same fundamentals as theirs.

When I find that graph, I'll post it. The solar cells really *have* shot
up in output, and using them requires concentrating. The two go
hand-in-hand. (Perhaps it would be more accurate to say the cells have
been reduced in size dramatically for the same output.)

By the way, the fellow at UC Merced that's noted at the bottom of that
page, apparently really knows his **** about PV. Merced, the newest UC
school, has won awards for being a "green" campus (built from the ground
up with conservation as the design trump card,) and has a strong
environmental sciences program.

I wonder if anyone has looked into using a liquid coolant
to harvest heat from the solar cell concentrators? A source
of both electricity and heat/hot water.

TDD