Solar Towers producing 50% More Energy

ramsy said:
Of course we do this all the time.
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That's more appropriate to Campfire Chat.

Tell us what's so unreputable about these solar towers? Is 50% more efficient BS, or are you just whining?
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I'm judging all the content on that website to be BS. But even if the 50% claim were true, it's also been true for a while now that adding 50% more PV modules usually costs less and takes up less space than installing and maintaining trackers. As ggunn said, old news.
 
Seeking that sweet, sweet, VC dollar. Reminds me of the V3Solar spinning solar cone. Remember that attempt and being the next big thing?
 
ramsy said:
Of course we do this all the time.

Tell us what's so unreputable about these solar towers? Is 50% more efficient BS, or are you just whining?
Click to expand...
I'd like to understand how this solid rectangle is 50% more efficient than, say, a simple flat array that also tracks the sun. If the box tracks the sun, presumably the sides of the box perpendicular to the face looking at the sun are forever shaded and produce no power whatsoever.
 
ramsy said:
Of course we do this all the time.

Tell us what's so unreputable about these solar towers? Is 50% more efficient BS, or are you just whining?
Click to expand...
Yes, the 50% added efficiency is BS, as is the idea that tilted single axis tracking arrays are anything new.
 
ggunn said:
Yes, the 50% added efficiency is BS, as is the idea that tilted single axis tracking arrays are anything new.
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Seem to me cost of tracking vs acrylic lenses may be a wash.

newatlas.com

Pyramid lenses catch light from any angle to boost solar cell efficiency

Solar cells are an increasingly important source of renewable energy, but there’s still room for improvement. Stanford engineers have now developed a pyramid-shaped lens that can focus sunlight from any angle onto a solar cell, keeping it collecting power from sunrise to sunset.
newatlas.com newatlas.com

Efficient Fresnel Lens Concentrator for Solar Cells | UC Solar

ucsolar.ucmerced.edu ucsolar.ucmerced.edu
 
pv_n00b said:
Seeking that sweet, sweet, VC dollar. Reminds me of the V3Solar spinning solar cone. Remember that attempt and being the next big thing?
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Yes, I remember.

Seems to me verticals may reduce cleaning maintenance, if dirt wont stick to the arrays.
 
Did I already say it's cheaper and takes no more space to add 50% more modules rather than do trackers? Oh yes, I did.

ramsy said:
The article presumes no tracking when comparing simple rooftop arrays.

Did not realize solar cells were that sensitive to sun angle, or that lenses wont work similar to tracking.
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It's not really about cell 'sensitivity', it's simply the geometry of the radiated energy from the sun. Which, yes, is why lenses don't work (without trackers).

To repeat what ggunn said, this has been known for more than 10 years! The best technology already won, and it's fixed panels without moving parts and crippling O&M costs! But if you'd like other tantalizing tech news from 10 years ago, I hear that wearables are going to be huge.
 
Joethemechanic said:
I like this idea better

Solar roadways on the moon, dude
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I was wondering what they are up to. The live cam of their demo project in Sandpoint, ID is not up anymore. Their website is still up but the last news from them I could find was in 2019. They were living off of government clean energy grants to do design work. No indication anyone actually built an operational solar roadway.
 
Trackers are attractive because the maximize the production from a fixed number of panels. It is only when you actually do the math that you realize that maximizing the production from limited number of panels isn't the best optimization goal.

As others have said, trackers improve production but cost more than the benefit you get. For a given fixed number of dollars, you are better off buying more panels than using trackers to get more production out of fewer panels.

This is the same sort of math that plays out when you realize that you are better off having a DC:AC ratio > 1; selecting an inverter that can squeeze every last drop of power out of an array gets you less kWh/$ then building a system that clips at peak times.

In locations where energy is worth more at particular times of day, it pays to have panels that aren't pointed for maximum production, but rather maximum production at those desirable times.

Land is also a big cost for PV, so arrays located to use cheap land rather than optimal land for solar production can give you better kWh/$.

I believe that single axis trackers are economically attractive in some agrivoltaic applications, where you need to optimize plant growth and electric production; in this case the trackers might actually _reduce_ PV production.

IMHO the 'solar roadways' idea was always horrible, but I do like the idea of solar canopies over roads. Lots of land, easy transport for maintenance, and maybe it would keep the snow off the roads.
 
How reliable are trackers? My old boss always said: "look at them. They are usually bolted in place because they stopped moving." But that was 20 years ago.
 
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