Wednesday, August 20, 2014

This glass sphere is 35% more efficient than solar panels

An architect has created a weather-tracking device that can concentrate sunlight and moonlight up to 10,000 times, and generate electricity even on a cloudy day.
A simple new solar-harvesting device offers to not only squeeze more energy out of the Sun, but also to follow it throughout the day.
The Betaray, developed by German architect André Broessel, is effectively a giant, clear marble, and when the Sun shines on it, it concentrates the light 10,000 times into one powerful beam directed onto a small surface of tiny solar panels.
That small patch of solar panels can generate as much electricity as a standard photovoltaic panel four times the size.
By concentrating the sunlight, the device is 35 percent more efficient than conventional solar panels - and performs even better when used in conjuction with a built-in weather tracking system, which rotates the device depending on where it can get the most sunlight. It also looks pretty good too.
Broessel raised money for the device on Indiegogo and his company RawLemon is hoping to soon sell small-scale devices to individuals, which will allow them to charge their mobile phones using nothing but the power of the Sun.
He’s also hoping to use the same technology to build energy-harvesting windows, and larger-scale devices that can be used to power cars and homes.

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