Hyper-Powerful and Inexpensive Solar by Pyron
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 11. 2.05
A company in California, Pyron Solar, is making the bold claim that its solar power system can compete head-to-head with conventional power plants. The system, developed with Boeing-Spectrolab, is very compact, and uses short-focal-length lenses to concentrate direct sunlight to photovoltaic cells. The company says these cells produce 800 times more electricity than conventional non-concentrating cells of the same size. Their first prototype, which is 23 feet in diameter and 16 inches high, produces an astonishing 6.5 KW of electricity, enough to power six homes.
The Pyron Generator costs around $18,000 (with California rebates of around $2.30 per watt, or just over $2,000) compared with around $32,500 for flat-panel systems. Basically, it has a cost of less than $3 per watt, compared the the average solar system cost of $5 per watt, which translates to a 40% decrease in the cost of solar power.
Pyron Solar has future plans for large-scale production, with 30 kW and 50 kW units planned. With the size, price, and efficiency of the system, it has been calculated that, with a piece of land measuring 50 square miles in the desert southwest, the Pyron system could provide all the electricity consumed by the entire US.
See the article "Is This Truly A Revolution in Solar Energy Production?" for more information.
:: Pyron Solar
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Holy sh*t. I really hope this pans out.
I'd love it if they would embrace truly distributed power, though, and offer a 1.5kW unit. One house=one unit. Build entire developments that are off the grid. No high-tension wires, no transmission efficiency loss!
That said, if I have to, I'll fork out $18,000 to power my straw bale mansion. When I build it. After I find the land for it, I mean.
The Pryon unit is nothing new and is very similiar to a earlier unit developed in Spain by Sol3g. See:
http://www.sol3g.com/eng/index.htm
Their unit also uses Spectrolab cells. Biggest problem with both systems is as the unit tracks and the sun drops below say 45 deg the front units cast shadows on the units behind. This looses a lot of solar energy.
The Pyron has a solar collection area of 38.4m2 for a solar input of 38.4kW with a output of 6.5kW for a conversion efficiency of only 17%.
I would estimate the inter unit shadowing reduces annual kWh output by 30 - 40%.
The only way to capture the entire dawn to dusk solar availability is with full apperature tracking.
All the best,
Greg Watson
Green and Gold Energy
Adelaide, South Australia
+61 408 843 089
http://www.greenandgoldenergy.com.au
Online SunBall discussion group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunball
That's amazing. If the cost was reasonable, it would be almost absurd for everyone on the planet to NOT have one of these on the roof of their house, even in climates like we have up here in the Pacific North West!
QUOTE: The only way to capture the entire dawn to dusk solar availability is with full apperature tracking.
And this design can't do that because of the water bath, correct?
(By the way--I'm a technical writer by trade, and you should know that the instructions on the Green & Gold Energy website for using the Sunball calculator with a non-listed location are so unclear that they're basically unusable.)
Just thought I'd point out that these numbers are a little weird. The average house has a 100 amp breaker panel. This can deliver about twelve kilowatts max (W=E*I, or 100a * 120v = 12kw). 1 kilowatt is (approximately) a little under ten amps, or what a common vacuum cleaner pulls when clean and running properly. It is not uncommon for a moderate to large modern home to have a *200* amp breaker panel, or approximately 24 kilowatts of service. 1.6 kilowatts is not a reasonable number for any but the greenest of homes, and you'd really have to work at it — not that I don't think the denizens of this site wouldn't, but the average citizen won't. These units, at 6kw, won't do the job that is hoped for them for one home, much less six of them, though I certainly agree they're impressive compared to what else there is out there.
Not to be a downer, because this is a great technology, but we need to consider the full energy analysis here - what is the energy input to create this system? How long does the unit have to operate to even collect/generate the energy that was use in its manufacture? The quagmire that we're in is that we use huge amounts of fossil fuels to create these renewable energy devices. I'd love to see a full energy analysis of this system. On a personal note though - I want one (if it gets _me_ off the grid I can worry about saving the world later.)
Greg-- just wanted to say that you totally rock! I love your sun ball and look forward to them coming to north america!!! keep up othe great work!
As for Pryon, would someone please explain to me what a "happy alignment" is?? (that's how they say that they get 2X the electrolys)
Hmmm. Didn't mean to sound quite so harsh re: the site instructions (it was late, I'm sick, blah blah).
Anyway - my point was that while it's clearly been well-thought out, the Calculator's utility for those of us outside Australia is compromised by the instructions.
QUOTE: Not to be a downer, because this is a great technology, but we need to consider the full energy analysis here - what is the energy input to create this system?
I've been wondering about that sort of thin myself. Not too long ago someone made a reference to all the "toxic" materials used to make PV cells, but didn't provide any info on it.
I tend to think of it this way: at the individual "me" level - that is, stuff for MY house - there's an ROI for PV installations of many years. X number of years 'till I recoup my initial $$$ investment.
Similarly, I would think that on a larger (planetary?) scale, something like that would eventually come into play once a certain level of power-per-capita is generated from clean sources. Perhaps, at that point, factories producing the PV devices would themselves get all or most of their power from renewable resources, all the way along the manufacturing chain.
I have no idea what that point would be, but it would be interesting to find out.
Another nitpick:
It's x times more powerful that solar cells "of the same size". On further inspection, the cells used are tiny. Compared to an average-sized panel set, covering the same surface area, what is the difference in power production?
To Greg: I've heard about regular solar cells that are getting +30% efficiency through some process. Have you thought about using these new cells in the SunBall? I remember hearing that some university was making prototypes a couple of years ago.
I am very new to this site so feel free to flame me. Before i saw this article I was having a philosophical argument with a coworker about how much land space woudl need to be covered with solar devices in order to generate enough energy for us to continue out lifestyles AND if this would effect our in any way.
So, based on this panel's capabilities (6.5kwhr) and based on the average energy consumption per capita in the US (338 million BTU or 11 KW per hour) then we would need about 4500 square miles of these devices to meet the energy needs of the US. And that doesn't include manufacturing them.
So the 50 square miles number is a bit misleading, is it not?
Lisa, the amount of power necessary to make it? At 6 kW? Probably a month, if not less. Why do you think that's an issue?
Hi All,
I'm published a graphic showing the solar availability for the US on a deg^2 basis. To get the annual kWhs for a 4 SunBall system for where you live do this:
Annual kWhs for 4 SunBalls = 1.32 * 365 * daily kWhs for your square.
As far as the Pyron tracking shadowing bit goes as the Pyron lens elements track lower they will be in the shadow of the next unit. From the photos it looks like the Pyron has a shadow free track winow of +- 45 deg from straight up. With proper spacing SunBalls can have horizon to horizon no shadowing loss tracking.
SunBalls can shadow each other unless you follow the layout suggestions on the "Installation" page.
Greg
This device produces 168 watts per sq. meter. Not all that exciting, really, and it use pricey Spectrolab triple-junction cells. Also, I'm not a huge fan of leaving plastic in intense UV for any application. I'm assuming their lenses aren't glass. Wake me up when something revolutionary is created.
-mt
Jeremy Siviter,
Your math may be wrong, but I've elsewhere read a 50 mile square estimate (2500 square miles), which is close to your figure. But you don't put these devices on the ground, you start by putting them on unused rooftops! There are lots of warehouses and Sprawlmarts in developed countries, I don't know how many square miles.
I like Energy Innovations' roof-top solar PV efforts. They considered concentrator lenses and abandoned them due to cost and durability issues. Now they're hoping for mechanical tracking of reflecting mirrors to concentrate power on cells. Check out the innovations timeline on their home page, it's fascinating to see all the technologies they considered and reluctantly abandoned. Getting something that's durable, has decent power output throughout the day, and has the right economic trade-offs, is extremely challenging!
So 6.5 kw at max generating capasity at 38.4m2 surface area (your entire back yard ) at 6 to 10 cents per Kwh that would be 39 to 65 cents per hour. Your back yard can earn you 4 to 7 dollars a day for the low low price of 18000$
Call me a simpleton, when does the home unit come out? Divide size and cost so homeowners can afford to own thier own systems. This is a great system if it can be adapted to the single consumer.
I would be more than willing to spend 3-4 thousand to get off the grid. Besides where is the incentive for energy companies to do anything different. They would be self destructing to support using a free resource.