News on the alternative energy front

[dragonfly]

This is NOT intended to turn into a political issue. Just wanted you guys to see this article. I can't vouch for it's value, but it's interesting at the least, and maybe great news. Let me know what you think.

http://www.ien.com/ienblog.aspx?id=138227

[iddee]

I will wait to see how it develops, but the one thing I did see was the cost was 1/8 that of panels, but will be replaced every year. How often are the panels replaced? I don't think every 8 years.

[RayMarler]

It sounds quite interesting to me, I'll be checking more into this company, thanks for the post!

[dragonfly]

Great point. I didn't think of that. I believe the usual life span of a panel is about 20 years. Hmmm. They mention that the balloons "may" last for up to 5 years, but are routinely to be changed out yearly.

The article mentions how inexpensive the materials are to build them. I wonder what the manufacturing cost is comparatively. That may be the real story.

[Sundance]

Thanks for the article.............

CPV's are the only way to get serious power. But if
this cheap set up delivers then WOW!! Most any
homeowner could justify one.

[Sundance]

".....That's why the company anticipates replacing systems every year even though the balloons can last 5 years,"

The part they are talking about replacing is the cheap
"balloon" reflector part. The hardware/photovoltaic cell
would not be.

Sounds really fantastic.

[dragonfly]

Thanks for the article.............

CPV's are the only way to get serious power. But if
this cheap set up delivers then WOW!! Most any
homeowner could justify one.

You're welcome. I'll be interested to see if there is a private home use application for them. The article implies that they would be used in large "power plant" configurations to supply power on a large scale. Is that viable?

[dragonfly]

The part they are talking about replacing is the cheap
"balloon" reflector part. The hardware/photovoltaic cell
would not be.


Oh, thanks for the explanation.:)

[Sundance]

Y Is that viable?

Certainly.......... The reflectors on CPV's are the spendy
part. Especially large ones. Using the balloon configuration
even large ones become inexpensive and viable.

I would imagine that the balloons being replaced would be
recycled into new/refreshed balloons.

[dragonfly]

Oh, thanks Sundance. Let me know if you learn anything else interesting about them. There's probably more info out there that I am not aware of. I just thought it may be of interest to several people here.

[RayMarler]

I went to the homepage of the company, they don't plan on making the system available to anyone other than power companies. They also are not a public company and are not interested in any investors other than what they already have. They are interested in leasing or purchasing properties which might meet their criteria for building arrays.

[dragonfly]

I went to the homepage of the company, they don't plan on making the system available to anyone other than power companies. .

Well, maybe someone else can pick up on the idea and sell to another market:s

[randydrivesabus]

what happens when its cloudy?

[alpha6]

There are other huge issues with having things way up in the air. The cell phone companies found that instead of cell phone towers they could have balloons acting as towers way up in the sky eliminating dead spots and increasing coverage with less equipment. The problem is not that it would work and be cheap but the array of problems associated with having the balloons up and dealing with the various govt. agencies from federal to local codes. It proved to be so much red tape that the idea is currently not moving forward. I suspect that this will encounter much of the same resistance from the same govts that are funding the developments...crazy world we live in. :scratch:

[Sundance]

There are other huge issues with having things way up in the air. :scratch:

I didn't get the impression these were going to be
filled with helium. I think they will be ground based
and slightly suspended.

The reference to the balloon is to the reflector.

I could be off on this. I agree that elevating these to
any height would be a bad idea. And not needed.