Stratosolar [1] is a startup corporation created to develop buoyant stratospheric platforms for collecting solar energy. They have applied for two patents.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Solar power |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | 2880 Zanker Road ste 203, San Jose, CA, 95134 United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Edmund Kelly (President) |
| Products | solar (PV) kites |
| Website | stratosolar.com |
The current concept, "StratoSolar PV" envisions photovoltaic cells lifted above the clouds by means of lighter-than-air gas bags,[2] with up to 3.5X more power produced (per unit area) than ground-based solar arrays due to better exposure and also lower operating temperature.[3]
The original concept was to concentrate and direct light concentrated by a buoyant cassegrain reflector telescope structure down a buoyant reflective pipe [4] to the ground for use in conventional steam turbine power generation.
In both cases, minimal land use compared to earth-based photovoltaics is a stated benefit.
References
edit- ^ Price, Toby (September 27, 2011). "StratoSolar "kites" could already be producing grid-parity solar energy". Renewable Energy Magazine. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
- ^ Brian Wang (August 21, 2013). "Stratosolar now a straight photovoltaic system halfway between space based and desert solar". Next Big Future. Retrieved Mar 15, 2016.
- ^ "StratoSolar Home Page". Retrieved April 28, 2013.
- ^
"StratoSolar Home Page circa 2011". Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
External links
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