Solar Lens Towers To Power California
A Utah based solar company (IAUS) has begun construction on the first phase of a project they claim could produce electricity for Californians for a cheaper price than either coal or gas. The first solar lenses are being installed near the Great Basin Desert in Eastern California. The unique thin-film lens focuses the sun’s energy, producing super-heated steam for power generation at an efficiency rate of 92%. They can be produced at a fraction of the cost and will be very easy to maintain. IAUS hopes the cost-effective technology will enable solar companies to compete head-to-head with the fossil fuel industry.
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Typical solar reflector panels ( e.g. solar dishes, troughs, heliostats) are very expensive and require a great deal of maintenance to sustain a solar focal point. Once installed, IAUS’s lenses need no further adjustment. Other solar technologies, such as photovoltaic (PV) panels, are also very expensive and require an expensive inverter to convert DC power to AC. They also require expensive batteries for power storage. Unlike PV systems, IAUS’s product does not need an expensive inverter or battery storage. It operates on heat and produces heat as a byproduct. This energy can be stored using a chemical regeneration process held in a continuous cycle. This chemical, in turn, is then used to create steam when there is no sun. This unique added process costs significantly less than batteries; so much so, that it offers a reasonable answer to 24/7 solar power.
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January 12th, 2009
FINALLY!!! IT’S ABOUT TIME!!! What kid hasn’t taken a magnifying glass and burned something up using solar light/heat!! Why wasn’t this tried on a bigger scale LONG AGO?? It’s time the big oil companies DROWN in thier oil and greed because nobody needs their oil anymore!!! What goes around comes around you greedy JERKS!!! THEY CAN’T STOP SOLAR POWER NO MATTER HOW THEY TRY!!!
May 29th, 2009
Great technology. I’m buying some shares.
July 27th, 2009
Glass Fresnel lenses would last longer, but would they (still) be cheaper than all the reoccurring plastic replacements (from UV and sandblasting damage)?
Also, I would think that the wider spaced the concentric rings, the easier (and more efficient) the Fresnel. If they were a “whole inch wide”, then there would still be a spot of light ~”only an inch” wide! Employing Fresnels at many feet across, that is still quite enough of a magnification to do thermal damage (to conventional profits).