Up, Up, And Away With My Beautiful Green Balloons
by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 06.25.07
When you hear about balloons in the news they are usually implicated in something nasty, like choking pigeons or used in underground not-so-TreeHuggerish guerrilla activities. Weren't we pleasantly surprised when we read the Jerusalem Post today and found that researchers from the Technion Institute have developed helium balloons coated with solar cells to generate energy. Two models have been constructed - one in the city of Haifa and one in the desert. The balloons are expected to overcome surface area issues such as in cities and crowded countries where large solar cell panels are not feasible.
Dr. Pini Gurfil and his doctoral student Yossi Corrie head the project that may bring balloons bobbing around in the sky in a city near you. Are they safe for birds and other animals, we don't know. But the same cable that brings the helium to the balloon will also carry the electricity to the ground, reports the JPost. And your home may require only one or two balloons.
These solar cell coated helium balloons could be used to supply electricity to ships and homes in jungles, deserts and other isolated spots off electricity grids. Beyond that, Gurfil and Corrie hope that homes in cities around the world will get their electricity from such balloons. If they were mass produced, their cost could be reduced below the estimated $700 per square meter of today's solar cells.
Fancy having some balloons bounce over your house? ::Jerusalem Post
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Helium is a finite resource, extracted mainly from natural gas. Known reserves are only a few decades and some want to use it for nuclear power cooling loops.
not that ive read deeply into this, but wouldnt these be lightning friendly?
ineffecient cause only a very small area is directly facing the sun. (like tyres vs tracks)..
helium leaks very well. its another element that could be striped and made cheaper. gusty winds smacking them to the ground and all about. bobbing of the ballon stress the wires and joints.
they should make the material into curtains for the house. cause commonly you close the curtains to block out the sun. expensive curtains for kitty to climb tho :p
im not in favour and would opt for a vertical axis turbine instead, and look at thin film solar on the windows instead if i was limited for space.
nother idea, make the solar cloth stuff into shade tarps like what they put in car yards, fancy homes and stuff.
if they think they can make it cheaper than pv, then whatever their using can be even cheaper not filled with helium in the sky waiting for a crow to plough through.
Unless the rooftop is used exclusively for crop production, I don't understand why a house would have "surface area issues." Seems like they are re-inventing the pole.
The reason roofs, windows, and cars do not always make for good solar collection areas, is because, in some areas, they are too low to the ground to have any effect, i.e., the foliage is too thick, the cloud banks are too low, etc.
These balloons would rise ABOVE the blockage and capture the sun's rays.
The helium issue would need to be fixed, since (as pointed out) it is a finite resource.
The upside of this idea, as opposed to the pole with elevated panels, is that the pole is more difficult to keep stable, as its length increases. The balloons, however, require no stablization, and can float with the wind.