Credit: indiegogo
Photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation: fabulous idea! Free energy from the Sun!
Unfortunately, there are a few inefficiencies & limitations:
1. Photovoltaics are made largely of very pure silicon. Manufacture requires large inputs of energy, & the resulting PVs are expensive.
2. For greatest efficiency, PVs need to be perpendicular to the Sun. Because of the movment of the Earth, for fixed PVs, this only happens briefly, once per day.
Problem 2 can be solved by a two-axis tracking system which allows PVs to always face the Sun. New problems this creates are expense, complexity, reliability problems with the mechanism, & susceptability to wind damage.
Credit: Solar Choice
Rawlemon has a different approach: collect sunlight with a large spherical lens, concentrating the light onto a very small (& so less expensive) PV, thus minimizing problem 1, above.
Credit: indiegogo
Unfortunately, or fortunately, the Earth goes right on moving, so the PV has to move so that it remains in the concentrated sunlight. Moving a centimetre square PV is very much easier than moving a meter square (or larger) one. As a result, the mechanism is less expensive & virtually immune to wind damage. In any case, it is protected from wind by the large spherical lens above it.
Potentially, a problem with the Rawlemon system is heat. PVs become less efficient as they heat up. In conventional PV system, this effect is reduced, somewhat, by the large size of the collector. On the other hand, there is plenty of air space below the Rawlemon collector, facilitating heat dissipation.
At the momemt, you can sign up for a demonstration-scale version that will keep your phone charged for $99 on indiegogo.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rawlemon-solar-devices
http://www.gizmag.com/rawlemon-spherical-solar-energy-generators/30453/ / noble cause harnessing harness clean renewable energy Sun solar panels esthetic aesthetically uninspiring start up start-up Rawlemon change undeniably beautiful concentrated photovoltaic CPV PV technology Andre Broessel German architect inspired daughtter daughter’s toy marbles Rawlemon design spherical lens concentrate sunlight small photovoltaic photo voltaic panel dual-axis pivot mount track tracks apparent movement Sun Sol designer transparent sphere collect concentrate diffuse light traditional devices cannot can not providing provide efficiency boost deploy deployed used far more locations than their flat fixed counterparts claimed concentrate concentrating concentration Sun’s light one area Rawlemon design reduces solar cell surface 1 percent traditional panel range of devices market 10-cm 3.9-in 3.9 in inch Beta.ey S phone charger currently subject Indiegogo campaign funds raised earmarked product produce produced production certification cerify Beta.ey S charger charge compatible mobile cell smart smatphone phone USB 2.0 charging port battery storage capacity of 27.5 Whr Bet.ey S Special Edition Beta.ey XL designed charging tablets Rawlemon larger devices device portfolio 100-cm 39.4-in Beta.ray 1.0 generate 1.1 kWh a day per day run power laptop for about two days 1.8 kWh battery cell largest device in the Rawlemon range is the 180-cm (70.1-in) Beta.ray 1.8 that will generate up to 3.4 kWh a day, enough to run your laptop for almost a week 5.4 kWh battery Beta.ray 1.0 1.8 feature water-filled acrylic-polymer water filled acrylic polimer lenses solid lens generate thermal energy Rawlemon developing system Microtrack same technology install installed building skin produce energy during the day multimedia display at night Beta.ey release later this year Beta.ray Rawlemon Microtrack system bring to market design designer designing beauty stack up more effective efficient efficiency flat PVs PV concentrator designs design water-filled water filled spheres sphere heavy massive Rawlemon video pitch /
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