Inflating Solar Panels

Here’s a new technology that we should all keep an eye on: inflatable solar mirrors that focus the sun’s energy in one spot, collecting huge amounts of solar energy in relatively small solar panels. The mirror-panel looks like a mylar balloon you might buy your kid for his or her birthday, but it could shape the future of solar technology.

Cool Earth, a San Francisco-based energy company, has developed a gizmo that collects the sun’s rays and focuses them on a point, concentrating the energy in one spot – a rather small, photovoltaic cell that turns the energy into electricity. Standard solar cells collect the sun’s rays as they travel through space – widespread and unconcentrated – requiring lots of space to collect enough energy for use. Focusing the rays is Cool Earth’s genius, because it cuts down on the amount of area needed to collect enough energy and cuts costs by using mirrors (which are relatively cheap) and smaller solar cells.