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World's Most Efficient Solar Dish?

news.cnet.com — A team led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology students last week successfully tested a prototype of what it says may be the "most cost-efficient solar-power system in the world," revolutionizing global energy production.

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  • rocr69, on 06/23/2008, -11/+11Looks like a good idea, but the real need is solutions that work well in places with more cloudy days than sunny.
    • socket, on 06/24/2008, -0/+5I believe a decentralized power grid would fix that. Sprinkle in nuclear power planets to pickup the slack and we'll mostly be off coal and oil for our energy needs. Assuming everyone (who can) is giving back excess power to the grid.
      • debuggercll, on 06/24/2008, -0/+5We should have plenty of power with a couple of nuclear power planets.
        • Cybermaul, on 06/24/2008, -0/+5Dude, I so want a nuclear power planet; they work like the Death Star, right?
        • Jwoey, on 06/24/2008, -0/+2You're Jeff Vader?
        • prisoner24601, on 06/24/2008, -0/+1Just remember you HAVE to keep the exhaust vents clear of obstructions at all times, especially rebel proton torpedoes.
    • fantasticjon, on 06/24/2008, -0/+3This idea is stupid. I don't have sunny days. The wind is alway blowing where I live. If only there were different solutions for different places. /sarcasm

      I hate it when people demean good ideas and good technology just because if doesn't fit their niche.
    • AlexanderBlue, on 06/24/2008, -0/+2Ya, cloudy days are a bummer. Pitch black, can't see a thing. Oh, wait... /sarcasm

      Just like purely solar-powered calculators work while inside, solar panels generate some electricity even on cloudy days. Obviously, the more light, the more energy. But it has to get pretty dark before the power output on a solar cell goes to zero.
  • Frost9999, on 06/24/2008, -4/+14There isn't any information about what makes this dish/reflector any different from existing designs. It looks like a frame with some mirrors stuck on it. Does anyone have a link to an article with actual information?
    • Onyxblaze, on 06/24/2008, -1/+15I think the point is that the "cost to build : focus factor" ratio is the lowest ever.
      • kreneskyp, on 06/24/2008, -0/+6thats exactly the point.

        efficiency isn't just about the power it can produce but the net cost for the power. It wouldn't matter how much energy it created if it was too expensive to produce.
    • stonerrobot, on 06/24/2008, -0/+8Traditionally, these glass reflectors have required expensive processing in order to form the precise parabolic shape necessary for good performance. RawSolar's patented design flexes flat mirror into precisely the right shape without any special tooling or skilled labor, acheiving incredibly high performance, long lifetime, and at a very low cost.

      From: http://raw-solar.com/technology.html
  • sHockz, on 06/24/2008, -12/+1I see a great way to play a trick on a girl looking to get a tan....muahahaha.
  • seo2020, on 06/24/2008, -8/+1This is awesome
  • hauntedchippy, on 06/24/2008, -2/+34Power extraction data or it didn't happen.
  • krnldmp, on 06/24/2008, -3/+21According to the article some dudes at MIT discovered focusing mirrors. Where's the beef?
    • kreneskyp, on 06/24/2008, -0/+1this article leaves out an important detail: the cost to implement the system is much cheaper than others.

      they do however give a better look at the construction and i'm wondering how sturdy the dish is.
  • webkami, on 06/24/2008, -7/+1Here to save environment?
    It might not be needed, environment is regularly saved by many revolutionary inventions everyday here on digg.

    /s
  • Gullop, on 06/24/2008, -4/+9http://raw-solar.com/

    lol ***** website.
  • Sub7, on 06/24/2008, -6/+2Now we just need all the oil to run out so the rich people can sell this sunlight at extortionate prices.
  • noodleNT, on 06/24/2008, -5/+2dup
  • fireboyjinx, on 06/24/2008, -2/+5Correct me if I'm wrong, isn't this the same teacher and team that was on that episode of mythbusters working on archimede's deathray?
  • mttyd, on 06/24/2008, -2/+2Been using this tecnique to build my solar death ray since 1939... gosh MIT way to be behind the times...
  • foolfoolz, on 06/24/2008, -1/+4"revolutionizing" the solar industry for the 18th time this year?
  • obsolite, on 06/24/2008, -3/+1Sunny Side Up.


    *Rimshot*
  • kronzdigg, on 06/24/2008, -6/+6yes but can it cook a republican?
  • TheRealTopherG, on 06/24/2008, -1/+4UNLV has been doing this sort of thing for over 5 years.
    http://www.solar.unlv.edu/
  • Plastic3D, on 06/24/2008, -2/+5We already knew that a dish can focus a wide area of rays into a small one.
  • nebben, on 06/24/2008, -5/+4Umm...sorry, I gotta call ***** on this one. Since when is a curved mirror revolutionary? They've been used in telescopes for ages. Oh, and if you're in Vegas, drive down Flamingo to see some solar reflectors that have been pointing to stirling engines to generate power too. Sheit, I made a small one of these out of poster board and aluminum foil to cook hot dogs in my backyard in Alaska when I was a kid. Either the article sucks, or MIT isn't that revolutionary. take yer pick.
    • pianomahnn, on 06/24/2008, -0/+1Your reading comprehension sucks. But to does the title of this digg. Cost-effective, not energy efficient.
  • wvaughan, on 06/24/2008, -0/+1They should make a mini version so campers can roast hotdogs!
  • HappyScrappy, on 06/24/2008, -3/+3Look, they invented the parabola!

    Ridiculous.
  • jimmys66, on 06/24/2008, -6/+0We have to invest more in solar, as well as other alternative energy sources.
    http://www.z-car.com/frm
    http://www.z-car.com/blog
  • gaberowe, on 06/24/2008, -5/+5Its highly likely that the "advance" is how cheaply it was built--which is totally lame.

    This article should have been titled, "Class project for MIT students makes them famous for no good reason"
    • kreneskyp, on 06/24/2008, -0/+5that is the advance.

      unfortunately simple math skills evade you and you're unable to comprehend how cheaper construction means you pay less for your energy.
  • drmangrum, on 06/24/2008, -1/+4Kind of a pointless article, has no information worth a damn. We already know concentration mirrors work, getting them lighter and cheaper isn't all that hard. Now, if they can devise a way to store all that energy for extended periods of time, i'll be impressed.
  • grexeo, on 06/24/2008, -1/+3Errm, how does "most cost-efficient solar-power system in the world" = "World's most efficient solar dish", exactly?
  • overshoot, on 06/24/2008, -0/+3Ok, the "new" part everybody keeps asking about seems to be the fact that the mirrors are flat but flexible. They are bent into shape when the reflector is assembled. That makes this design a lot cheaper than previous ones.
  • kreneskyp, on 06/24/2008, -0/+4and the innovation didn't even require a $300 million dollar government bounty!
  • suezeekay, on 06/24/2008, -0/+2We have fallen into such a negative mode we don't even realize it anymore. I guess it's harder to be optimistic and hopeful. Easy to criticize and spread your negative attitude to others. No hope.
    • regeya, on 06/24/2008, -0/+1Indeed. I attribute that effect to how much traction some of the more ridiculous claims Peak Oil makes, such as that even a 1% drop in oil production will destabilize society to the point that the whole house of cards falls down. In the early 80s, production fell 14%. I'm all for doing away with fossil fuels as a primary power source, but these yahoos are convincing people that the only source of energy is hydrocarbons! Ridiculous fearmongering B.S. with very little basis in reality.

      Negativity is hard to overcome right now, though. Many civilized and developing nations are seeing double-digit inflation right now, and there's so much FUD being spread between nations it's hard to dismiss claims that we're on the verge of WW3. In reality, the civilized and developing nations seem to be scrambling to work together, and things seem to be starting to improve already...but such claims are dismissed as lies.

      I fear that our own negativity will do us in, not any fundamental change in the world.
  • wvaughan, on 06/24/2008, -0/+1They should make a mini version so campers can roast hotdogs!
  • gr00vy, on 06/24/2008, -3/+3How can this be considered "efficient". What kind of solar system requires enough heat to "melt steel?"

    An efficient system would be the minimum size to run a power system with. It should contain enough BTU's to boil water to run the turbines, not enough to melt steel.
    • ada2358, on 06/25/2008, -0/+0I'm not sure about steel, but newer solar panels are able to take much more heat, and therefore energy to convert it to electricity, Intel and others are able to make a really small panel produce significantly and its all about the price as far as solar panel efficiency, the smaller it is the less material and from there it gets cheaper, somehow a mirror is cheaper than a plate of silicon... Use some sort of vacuum tube panel if you want to heat water.
  • BufordT, on 06/24/2008, -0/+5Another day, another breakthrough by people that say they will be "revolutionizing global energy production" I have been reading articles like this for years (if not decades) now. If these breakthrough's are so great, when TF are we going to see some results?
  • TheRealToma, on 06/24/2008, -0/+3From the looks of that pic, if he dropped that mirror, he'd be less a couple toes. Nearly everyone is wearing sandals :(
  • m0rphling, on 06/24/2008, -0/+8This has been posted before. Reference the original video if you want to get a bigger idea of what this design hopes to accomplish.

    http://digg.com/environment/MIT_team_plays_with_fi ...
  • DeFex, on 06/24/2008, -0/+2just imagine how many ants you could burn with that.
  • jennyt08, on 06/24/2008, -2/+1Who tested this device? How is it rated the "most efficient solar panel system in the world"? The material doesn't look like it absorbs any sun, but rather reflects the energy. I guess time will tel....
  • MattB123, on 06/24/2008, -0/+2The article could be better, but I'm happy to see solar development going in all these different directions.
  • auzziegurl97, on 06/24/2008, -1/+1I had to do an exercise in my physics class, this past year at school, where we had to make a solar cooker. It's all the same science, this Solar panel is just 20 times larger then the one I had to do. I ended up looking through books to help make my solar cooker more efficient and stumbled across Solar Energy Projects for the Evil Genius you should check it out, it's unbelievable clever and witty and a very enjoyable read. You can find it on www.booksonboard.com .
  • juanchopanza, on 06/24/2008, -2/+1So, a bunch of fellowshipped MIT grad students, assemble something that makes the news. Well, I guess there's a 67% chance that there's actually something there, although academic honesty is pretty low these days, even among engineers. Didn't MIT students lose to some hispanic high school students in the competition over vertical elevators?

    This is an idea, and Lord knows, we need ideas. But it's not concrete progress, just directional. Run these tinkertoy articles when they really have something to toot about.
  • cuoops, on 06/24/2008, -0/+2Breaking news...for the second of third time this week.
  • topcat5, on 06/24/2008, -1/+3This is a take off of a design that was in Popular Mechanics or Science in the 1970s. It used mirrors from the hardware store so it was even more cost effective.
  • martian, on 06/24/2008, -1/+3This page is fully of idiotic comments by people who clearly can't read.
  • wreckosaurus, on 06/24/2008, -0/+4The problem with solar power is that we're eventually going to use the sun up. There's some countries, like Alaska, which has already run out and there's darkness for like months of the year.
    • regeya, on 06/24/2008, -0/+1Totally! Don't people realize that energy comes from fossil fuel? The sun burns, like, all the time! God's not making any more dinosaurs!
    • ada2358, on 06/25/2008, -0/+0For a second I was annoyed with how stupid that sounded, but for some reason I don't think I'll stop laughing for a while... Thanks for the laugh.
  • dbixler, on 06/24/2008, -0/+0http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/amateur/mirror.html
  • m0rphling, on 06/24/2008, -0/+2There is also a misnomer about the "Solar Power" in the article. While most may look at this and automatically assume this produces electricity, it does not. It produces steam. This is simply a solar radiant receiver, focusing the sun's rays at a coil of flowing water to efficiently produce steam without the burning of fossil fuels. It can cut costs for individuals and businesses. Used in an array, these dishes may produce steam at a high enough pressure to spin a turbine and create cheap electricity. **

    **For the non-investigative, this is a crude summary of what this solar design is about.
    • gbarger, on 06/24/2008, -0/+3The largest percentage of energy in America is used to heat water. If this can heat water to steam nearly instantly, it seems like a pretty good idea to me. Besides, with heat you can create energy. How about using the heat to create energy to start an electrolysis reaction to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen...then you've got storable clean energy because burning the hydrogen and oxygen creates water. And the best part...for electrolysis you need water with an electrolyte (salt). I think the earth has enough salt water. I think this is fantastic news! The possibilities of something like this are truly incredible because it's so cheap.
  • castletech, on 06/24/2008, -0/+1This article is lame. Nothing is mentioned about a solar panel that can even function under those conditions (hot enough to melt steel).
    • BlueSkyfish, on 06/24/2008, -0/+1There are 8 pages in the story.
    • m0rphling, on 06/24/2008, -0/+1This is not a photovoltaic solar panel. It's a thermal energy collector used to boil water.
  • slapshot24, on 06/24/2008, -0/+1This is a great idea if you need to melt steel in the middle of a sunny spot with nothing nearby.

    For real-life impact? It's probably not that big of an advance.

    It's not really clear that it's useful for cooking (last time I checked, very few recipes call for cooking at 2,000F), and the cost savings on the reflector don't help all that much with a steam-powered generator or a liquid sodium generator or any of the other ways to generate power at that temperature. The steam generator system is the expensive part of the system, and the place where the biggest advances could be made in efficiency.

    This is like building a better fuel filler cap for a car: It's a good thing, but it doesn't change the efficiency of a car all that much.
  • cameltoenail, on 06/24/2008, -1/+0Wow!! The sun is hot?? And if you focus it with 1000 mirrors, it is 1000X hotter?? *****! You yankees at MIT are smart!!

    Wooooh!
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