| One of the consistent problems with solar platforms | | | | of solar cells. Various forms of silicon are used to |
| has been the inefficient conversion of sunlight to | | | | convert sunlight into energy. The material is simply |
| electricity. New technology and strategies are dealing | | | | inefficient and improvements are slow and |
| with this issue. | | | | incremental. The situation is similar to trying to turn a |
| Concentrate, Concentrate | | | | moped into a high performance racing bike. You don't |
| Traditional power generating plants work by using a | | | | have much to work with. Given the limitations of |
| fuel, often fossil, to heat a liquid until it expands or | | | | silicon, solar producers are trying new strategies. |
| turns into a gas. The pressure or gas than rotates a | | | | One of the major new strategies is to use the sun |
| turbine, which cranks up a generator and produces | | | | as a direct heating component to produce power. |
| the massive amounts of electricity we all take for | | | | Instead of trying to directly convert the sunlight with |
| granted. This is a time tested method and is used in | | | | silicon wafers, producers are trying to use reflective |
| coal, nuclear, hydropower and most major power | | | | panels to focus it onto a specific spot. This spot then |
| sources. The concept is now being transferred to | | | | contains a pipe or pool of liquid. The concentrated |
| solar platforms in an effort to get more bang for the | | | | focus of the sun heats the liquid up and the |
| buck out of these clean energy platforms. | | | | traditional turbine to generator to electricity strategy |
| The problem with solar is sunlight is converted to | | | | is undertaken. If you've ever sat in a car in traffic on |
| energy at a rate of 10 to 15 percent efficiency, a | | | | a summer day without air conditioning, you'll |
| truly uninspiring number. Put in sports terms, the best | | | | understand the concept. |
| batter in baseball would have a batting average of | | | | Generating energy from the sun on a large scale has |
| 150, a quarterback would complete 1.5 of his | | | | always been a bit of a head scratcher. Early returns |
| attempted throws and Michael Jordan would have | | | | on the concentrated energy strategy, however, |
| missed 9 out of every 10 dunks. The numbers simply | | | | have been extremely positive. Major fields are being |
| aren't pretty. | | | | used in Germany and the future appears...bright. |
| The problem with solar power is the base construct | | | | |