Udhaya Kumar
That is simply wonderful, Exactly what I had in mind It mimics a Pyramid. If pyramids don't cast shadow then that made one efficient solar power generator. Thumbs up!
christopher
spilling electrons? "power electronics"? transferred to... magnets? It's like someone grabbed every cliche from every bogus power scam ever fabricated, and spun it all into one new scam (pardon my pun).
The one number they mention: "one amp because the unit floats on magnets" triggered my "bulsh#tometer"... if it's floating on magnets, it's as near as practicable to frictionless, thus would never need anywhere near a whole amp (which isn't even the right unit of measurement).
Morgan Jones
That's very interesting technology, but what about cost? Solyndra's cylinder shaped PVs were supposed to revolutionize solar and look where they are now. Unless this technology can compete with Chinese panels in terms of cost per watt, I don't see this succeeding.
nutcase
I see daleks. The "spin-cells" are aptly named if you look at their website, which contains a fair bit of spin and not much about price and availability.
yrag
Well I hope they're capable of generating over 20 times more electricity than a flat panel! Look at how complex they are—that means they're much more expensive to built, set up, maintain AND repair.
I'm not suggesting that the technology is not good—maybe it's great—I don't know enough about it, but complexity DOES has some real down sides and costs.
Tysto
This looks like another scheme that creates outrageous power by using outrageous numbers of solar panels in the same footprint. Still, I like the idea of moving the cells past the concentrator; that seems like a viable way to avoid heat build up.
Synchro
Count me in with Christopher: I'm not convinced. Spinning the cone means it's out of the sun 50% of the time. The sun delivers a consistent W/m^2 so in order to get 20x the energy input, you need to be collecting from 20x the area (see http://www.gizmag.com/hypersolar-concentrators-could-boost-solar-panel-light-input/17914/), but on this generator, the concentrator appears to be about the same size as the panels, and covers them, so anywhere it's concentrating the energy to is being taken from elsewhere on the panel, giving a best case of zero gain (unless the cells have higher efficiency at higher input levels). Putting the whole thing under a closed dome seems like a good way of increasing heat build-up rather than reducing it, and the smaller size means it's harder to dissipate it - it's much easier to dissipate the heat from a flat panel. The only way I can see this working is if they have PV cells that are 20x more efficient, but that need concentrators to allow them to perform that well - but having cells that efficient would be a much bigger story than cone shaped widgets. There's some basic physics at work here: there's a certain amount of energy available, and various obstacles to getting at it. What this is suggesting doesn't seem to be in any way touching on the basic premise of shining light on a PV cell and turning as much of that energy into electricity as possible. Current state of the art in PV is discussed here, and suggests a possible efficiency of about 55% for a 400x concentrator: http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/tapping-the-power-of-100-suns
JBar
If you are generating 20 times more energy, but spininng 20 times more solar cells to do it, you gain nothing. Its cute, but it doesnt appear to move solar power forward. What is the installed cost per mean MWatt of generated power?
Pro San Pedro de Atacama
Mantenerse con la debida libertad de elegir tanto la más apropiada tecnología para garantizar energía limpia y eficiente para nuestra sociedad, como la forma más participativa en el modelo de acceso a esta, es una prioridad en todo concepto de administración sostenible.
En ello va, empoderar al usuario como beneficiario, dueño, socio capitalista, productor, o una combinación de estas formas, puesto de lo contrario caemos en el paradigma aplastante de siempre: La dominación de mega inversionistas en ausencia de control o complicidad de un estado que no vela por el verdadero bienestar de su ciudadanía. Este es solo un ejemplo... ...aprovecho de soñar un poco más, para todos nosotros.
agulesin
"angle of 56 percent" what? Is that relative to a full circle, or 90 degrees?
"a perfectly timed dance of light." what? anyway, let's wait and see when they appear on the market...