[OKC] Cylindrical Solar Cells Give a Whole New Meaning to Sunroof

[Shauna Struby]

FYI - a hopeful and interesting development . hopefully Oklahoma will move
more aggressively to harvest our vast potential with solar energy soon . if
not at the large utility scale level . then perhaps in smaller citizen-owned
cooperatives.

 

Interesting from the article about cylindrical solar cells:

.         "With a cylinder, we are collecting light from all angles, even
collecting diffuse light," says CEO Chris Gronet .

 

.         Because of the lower installation cost, we have a clear path to
grid parity." In other words, the newly shaped cells have the potential of
harnessing solar power at around the same price as electricity from
<http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=coal-war> coal-fired power plants,
currently the cheapest generation option at around six cents per kilowatt
hour. Typical solar photovoltaic installations, on the other hand, cost
roughly 25 to 50 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity, roughly one half of
which is related to the expense of physically installing them.


Cylindrical Solar Cells Give a Whole New Meaning to Sunroof


Solyndra hopes to capture the wasted sunlight falling on roofs by making
solar cells into cylinders rather than panels


By David Biello 

There are approximately 30 billion square feet (2.8 billion square meters)
of expansive, flat roofs in the U.S., an area large enough to collect the
sunlight needed to power 16 million American homes, or replace 38
conventional coal-fired power plants. By covering these roofs with large,
flat arrays of cylindrical thin-film
<http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=solar-power-lightens-up-with-thin-film-
cells>  solar cells (think massive installations of fluorescent tubes, only
absorbing light rather than emitting it), Fremont, Calif.-based Solyndra,
Inc., hopes to harness that energy.

More here :::
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=cylindrical-solar-cells-give-new-meaning
-to-sunroof 

 

::: shauna lawyer struby

 

 

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