Thursday, July 31, 2008

SOLAR: 13 Startups Working on Solar Concentrating PV

This is a handy list of companies that may have the technology to destroy* your plans for world domination. Or your portfolio.
From earth2tech:

We’re all familiar with standard photovoltaic solar panels, and many of us are starting to become acquainted with solar thermal tech that uses the sun’s heat to generate power, but there’s also a third option. Over a dozen startups are working on ways to use mirrors and lenses to concentrate sunlight hundreds of times onto tiny highly-efficient solar cells. Called concentrating photovoltaic technology (CPV) the systems are meant to cut back on one of the most expensive parts of traditional PV: the silicon-based solar panel.

CPV startups say the latest tech can provide solar systems at a lower cost per watt but with as much or more power. Though many companies are just starting to bring products to market, and the systems seem to require a lot of moving parts, these 13 companies are working out the details:...Go to e2t for the lucky 13.

*For some reason that sentence reminded me of the line quoted by Robert Oppenheimer on the occasion of the detonation of the first atomic bomb:

"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Just a little ray of sunshine aren't I.