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A sunflower-shaped photovoltaic system will produce light and water
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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A new parabolic dish-type reflector may appear in the near future that can amplify solar radiation by 2,000 times, while also purifying the air and producing fresh water. The imminent release of a unique device has already been announced by the research organization IBM Research, which is collaborating with the private company Airlight Energy, whose work is related to the production and supply of solar technologies for large-scale production.
The new system is powered by solar cells that are cooled with water and, as a result, convert about 80% of solar radiation into energy.
The system is called Concentrator PhotoVoltaics (CPV for short) and looks like a giant sunflower (the system is 10 meters high). CPV is capable of producing 12 kW of electricity and 20 kW of heat on a sunny day, which is enough to meet the energy needs of several small houses.
The principle of the system's operation is to focus solar radiation on special elements using mirrors. Silicon solar cells have a flash point of around 1500 0 C, but specialists, using their experience in creating supercomputers, achieved a relatively low temperature of about 105 0 C by cooling the elements with water.
In CPV, mirrors, electrical receivers, and photovoltaic elements are covered with a transparent plastic dome that protects the system from bad weather conditions.
Work is currently underway on the technology, and manufacturing companies plan to launch sales in 2017.
As experts note, CPV can be used not only in urban conditions, but also in geographically remote regions. The unique system is not suitable for installation on roofs of houses, since its weight is approximately 10 tons, and the area it occupies is about 47 m 2.
This system is ideal as a power source for hotels, resorts, shopping centers, etc.
Systems of this kind emerged in the early 1970s. At first, they used curved glass or lenses that helped to concentrate sunlight on a small area of photovoltaic cells and increase the amount of electricity generated.
Traditional solar photovoltaic systems, typically installed on rooftops, have an efficiency of up to 20% and, on average, can increase solar radiation by 500 times.
The new development allows increasing solar radiation by 2000 times, while its efficiency is 80%.
Since the sun's rays are concentrated to the maximum extent on the photovoltaic cells, the system requires intensive cooling. The radiator system in the CPV is filled with water and serves not only for cooling, but is also capable of delivering hot water for heating and serving for air conditioning thanks to the absorption chiller.
A 40m2 CPV system can produce over 1300L of water daily.
Manufacturers claim that a system with 1m2 of receiver is capable of producing 30-40 liters of water daily, which will be suitable for drinking, while the amount of electricity produced per day is 2 kW/h, which is almost twice as much as a person needs per day.
Also, according to the manufacturers, their multi-plate installation is capable of meeting the water needs of an entire city. Since the project is still at the experimental stage, the company does not announce prices, but since the system is made of inexpensive materials, it can cost up to 5 times less than similar ones.