By Tina Casey •
October 5, 2009
Building solar power plants in the desert is a no-brainer, but until now there hasn’t been a cost-efficient way to provide solar power directly to homes in colder, cloudier parts of the word. Cool Energy, Inc. believes it can do just that. Last month the Boulder, Colorado based company announced the release of SolarHeart, an engine designed for home use that can convert low-temperature solar energy into sustainable electricity, and also saving up to 75% on heating oil or propane.
The SolarHeart engine is based on the legendary Stirling engine design, which harkens back to the early 19th century. Stirling engines run on changes in the pressure of hydrogen as it is alternately heated and cooled in a sealed chamber, which drives a piston. Cool Energy plans to integrate the SolarHeart engine into a complete solar energy system built into individual homes and other buildings. If SolarHeart lives up to its promise, we could all be just a heartbeat away from off-grid living.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
August 25, 2009
The long-awaited commercial deployment of the world’s most efficient solar technology looks like it will now be near Phoenix, in a 1.5-megawatt, 60-unit deployment of Stirling Energy Systems’ solar thermal collectors.
Announced late last week, the 60-dish Maricopa Solar project will be the first commercial-scale solar facility built using Stirling Energy Systems/Tessera Solar’s SunCatcher concentrating solar technology.
The SunCatcher consists of a solar concentrator in a dish structure that supports an array of curved glass mirrors. Iterations of the SunCatcher have been among the world’s most efficient machines for solar-to-grid electric conversion for twenty years, most recently breaking the record last year with the highest-ever conversion rate of 31.25%.
By Carol Gulyas •
February 13, 2008
Problems with silicon-based solar electricity (PV)
In the world of solar electricity generation, the price and shortage of silicon have been barriers to wider adaptation of solar photovoltaic (PV), especially as demand continues to rise. Solar PV’s efficiency in converting sunlight to electricity has also been criticized. That’s why non-silicon-based alternatives are especially attractive. I spoke with Gregg Clevenger, CFO of Infinia Corporation, on Monday (February 11) to find out what his company is up to and why renewable energy advocates are all atwitter about it.
According to Gregg, “We set out to address climate change and went back to ground zero with our Stirling engine product, to develop it into a design that is simple enough to be mass-produced widely and to generate solar electricity at 20-30% of the cost of solar PV.”
