Balloon Solar Concentrator Generates 350 Times the Electricity

"UTILITY SCALE SOLAR POWER"

The folks at Cool Earth Solar (www.coolearthsolar.com) have 1 mission: make a global energy solution that plugs into existing power grids at a cost that rivals coal and fossil fuel-fired power plants. Period.

And it looks like they just might have a shot at it-- with giant mylar birthday balloons.

CONCENTRATOR SOLAR

Solar power is great, but if it's going to catch on as a viable mainstream alternative, it's going to have to become ALOT more efficient. That means producing economies of scale and producing much more efficient solar energy collection systems in order to provide "utility-scale" power-- electricity in the amounts, and at the pricepoints available from traditional generation technologies. And THAT means creating MUCH cheaper and more efficient Concentrator Solar technology.

Concentrator solar systems such as the Stirling Energy Systems 25kW/hr SunCatcher pictured below is nothing new. They've been around for years and they're pretty effective.

The problem long-plauging solar technology though, is it's inability to provide power on the scale America needs at a price that is competitive with existing "dirtier" technologies.

But now, as new advancements are being made in the area of photovoltaics and solar energy, many new technologies are coming online almost daily to provide cheaper, more efficient means of collecting solar power. And while there are any number of fledgling concentrator systems being pursued at the moment, one of the most interesting, and one with the most potential, are the Solar Concentrator "Balloons" from Cool Earth Solar.



HOW IT WORKS

Cool Earth's solar concentrator balloons look like 8-foot wide mylar happy birthday balloons. Mounted 4-10 feet off the ground, they house a small traditional solar panel inside the balloon, which is lined with aluminum, making it almost like a 2-way mirror that allows Sunlight in, and then doesn't let it out. Instead of reflecting off the solar panel as with a normal photovotaic cell system, it bounces around inside the balloon and concentrates on the photovoltaic cell inside. The result is that each solar panel is able to absorb 350 times more energy than it would without the balloon.

As you can imagine, just like the sunlight through a magnifying glass you used to burn ants with when you were a kid, concentrating sunlight that much produces alot of heat at the focal point. So, to keep the cells from burning out quickly, each cell is water-cooled to dissipate heat quickly and extend the life of the cell.

Interestingly, in order to further maximize solar concentration, the air presure within the balloons can be varied in order to change the curvature of the balloon's mirrored surface to reconcentrate the sunlight as needed.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ME?

So what does all that boil down to? Well, as the March '09 issue of The Economist notes:

"The result, according to Rob Lamkin, Cool Earth’s boss, is a device that costs $1 per watt of generating capacity to install. That is about the same as a large coal-fired power station. Of course, balloons do not last as long as conventional power stations (each is estimated to have a working life of about a year). But the fuel (sunlight) is free. When all the sums are done, Mr Lamkin reckons his company will be able to sell electricity to California’s grid for 11 cents a kilowatt-hour, the state’s target price for renewable energy, while still turning a tidy profit."
(Click HERE for the article) - www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/tq/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13174508

LIFESPAN/DURABILITY ISSUES

According to Lamkin, the balloons have a relatively short lifespan of 5 years and will actually be replaced every year, due to the extremely low cost to produce them.

Additionally, the balloons can supposedly withstand 125mph winds, and if a balloon is punctured, rather than popping or deflating, the hole simply slowly leaks air, while the balloon retains it shape and most of its effectiveness until it is inspected and repaired.

All in all, a very promising technology. We'll see how well it can live up to the big claims made about it.


Below are several more sources for reading on the topic:

Click HERE for a great video from Planet Green's Focus Earth program showcasing CoolEarth balloons.
(http://www.coolearthsolar.com/news/planetgreen)

Click HERE for CoolEarth's marketing powerpoint pdf: (http://www.coolearthsolar.com/CoolEarth_SP2006.pdf)

Click HERE for DISCOVER Magazine's Q&A with CoolEarth CEO Rob Lamkin.
(http://discovermagazine.com/2008/oct/19-powering-planet-with-sun-harnessing-balloons)

Click HERE to read a great quick HuffPost article debunking solar myths with quick facts and photos.
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/15/solar-energy-reality-chec_n_158258.html)

Click HERE to read the San Francisco Business Times article regarding a few Bay Area "utility-scale" solar power companies.
(http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/05/11/focus3.html)

Click HERE to read the San Francisco Chronicle mini-Q&A with CoolEarth's CEO.
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/16/BUAD17LDEE.DTL)

Click HERE for a CNN Money/Fortune article on CoolEarth Solar.
(http://greenwombat.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/11/05/generating-electricity-from-a-balloon/)

Click HERE for Forbes.com's post about CoolEarth's potential.
(http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/1117/058.html)

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