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Ariz. Team Seeks Fossil-Fuel Cost Parity, Using Solar Energy Concentrators

Posted by timothy on from the all-I-want-is-a-big-solar-oven dept.

autospa writes "A University of Arizona engineering team led by Roger Angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (PV) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells. This comes as a result of a broader goal to make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels (target = 1$/W) without the 'need for government subsidization.'"

5 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. Which government subsidization? by timeOday · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's hard to count all the ways our oil economy is supported and subsidized by the government. And we haven't even started cleaning up the mess yet.

  2. Solar cells is a bad idea for concentrators by BlueParrot · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you are using concentrators for solar power you really ought to consider a thermal cycle like a brayton turbine or a sterling engine, rather than solar cells. Thermal cycles tend to have higher conversion efficiencies, the equipment is more reliable, and their power output is more easily converted to grid voltage ( AC as opposed to DC ). Solar cells also tend to see reduced lifetimes when used with very concentrated light. The advantage with cells is pretty much that they don't need concentrators to work, since they don't rely on a high temperature. They can also be used in places where space/weight is an issue, such as on sailboats, rooftops or sattelites. Thus if you are already using a bulky concentrator to get the light intensity up, you may as well use a sterling engine.

     

  3. Re:What does $1/W mean? by tmosley · · Score: 5, Informative

    A watt is a unit of power, a watt hour is a unit of work. The goal is $1/W which means that a 1000 W system, which produces ~8KWh per day (more further south), only costs $1000, and would pay for itself in about three years, making it economically viable for most people.

  4. Re:Still the same problem as with all solar by Aighearach · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If only somebody would invent some sort of device that could store electricity for later use.

    Then I could finally ditch the diesel generator I have to drag around to keep my mp3 player running!

  5. Re:Bullshit. by Desler · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yeah, those subsidies clearly don't exist. That's why at one point Obama claimed he was going to cut $36.5 billion in them.