The 25X Sunflower™ Concentrating Solar Module

The 25X Sunflower™ is modular concentrating solar system that utilizes 25 - 1' x1' mirrors that concentrate the sunlight by a factor of 25 and focus the light on a photovoltaic receiver which produces 200 watts of electricity.  The system is designed for flat-roofed, grid-tied commercial buildings and is planned to be available in North America by late 2005.  The module is a little over 5 feet square and 5 feet high as shown on this artists rendition on the companies website.

Each of the mirrors is separately aligned, to follow the sun, but are all attached to a single frame/mechanism and moved by just two motors. The receiver is a collection of photovoltaic cells that are wired together to produce electricity. It is cooled by fins that keep the cells operating within 30°C of ambient temperature at all times.

The company tested the Sunflower on its own rooftop in Pasadena and it is currently being tested at Arizona State University's Photovoltaic Testing Lab for UL approval prior to being released for sale and production late this year.

The creator of the Sunflower is Bill Gross the entrepreneur behind NetZero, FreePC, and CitySearch. And eToys, Eve.com, FirstLook and several other dotcom companies.  With his success record and personal involvement the Sunflower has a much better chance of success than many of his competitors.

Energy Innovations acquired the solar power systems integrator, Prevalent Power, In February and renamed it El Solutions.  EI Solutions engineering and sales team will manage the initial sales and installations of the Sunflower.

According to their website "the 25X Sunflower™ is able to meet our targets for both energy generation and cost."  At another place on their site it states "When we release our first product into commercial distribution in late 2005, we anticipate that it will be priced at about two-thirds that of comparably rated PV-based systems."  According to the Red Herring:

"Energy Innovations’ system would cost $4.50 per watt, including installation and before rebates, Mr. Beebe (Energy Innovations’ President Andrew Beebe) said. That compares with an average $5.15 per watt for other systems based on solar module technology, according to Solarbuzz, a research firm in San Francisco. Sunflower’s price would drop to $1.50 per watt when the $3 per watt California rebate is included, Mr. Beebe said.

What’s more, the system’s operating price ranging between $0.06 and $0.08 per kilowatt hour compares nicely with prices for power generated by traditional sources, Mr. Beebe said. Electricity from traditional sources typically costs between $0.07 and $0.08 per kilowatt hour."

This is an interesting product, which promises to produce electricity at a good price.  However, this price must be with the CA rebate.  Rebates can't subsidize the industry forever.  Concentrating solar collectors generally only find application in very sunny climates as their output drop off drastically in cloudy weather.  Not that their isn't a very significant market in those regions.  It is questionable whether this unit will be competitive with large concentrating collectors also designed for industrial use as described in this previous post.  They also have a design that uses a Stirling engine, which is on the back burner while they roll out this model.

Resources:

Energy Innovations, Pasadena, CA 91103, http://www.energyinnovations.com/
"The Dotcom King & the Rooftop Solar Revolution", Wired, July 2005
Energy Inovations Gets Cash, Red Herring, June 21, 2005
"Energy Innovations Acquires System Integrator Prevalent Power, Forms El Solutions," Solar Electric Power Association, 2/3/05

Technocrati tags: solar power, renewable energy

Comments

[Robert McLeod]

So anyone know how big their receiver array is, or what the maximum excursion of their tip-tilt mirrors are? I could model this if I had that information. It's basically a MEMS, just macroscopic rather than microscopic.

Anyone else notice that in their artist's conception the mirrors are shading each other? Ooops.

Also in their FAQ, there is not a single question about performance under cloud.