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All forms of innovation deserve their chance, at least in theory, but the reality is quite different. While green energies are in fashion, and you don't have to be a lynx to realize that they are here to stay, on the other hand, the challenges are enormous. Achieving the long-awaited three of aces, energy savings, caring for the planet and a healthier environment without sacrificing well-being is a complicated goal that we will only achieve in the context of a low-carbon economy. And, no doubt, innovations are the engine that can offer the solutions capable of making it possible.
In this Green Ecologist article we collect 3 surprising advances in solar photovoltaic energy. They are attractive projects, which use ingenuity to the unimaginable to expand the use of this energy, take it to new scenarios or improve its performance. One of them is still in the making, and the other two are already a reality. Regardless of their future, they all have great potential to improve and expand the use of photovoltaic solar energy.
Improvise a solar park
The deployable photovoltaic panels, and at the moment, with everything you need to get going, including wiring, is the incredible proposal of John Hingley and his team, from the renewable energy company Renovagen.
His invention, dubbed the Roll Array, makes the always tricky question of installing photovoltaic panels easier than ever. Their latest innovation is a high-power photovoltaic array that unfolds like a carpet. In a few minutes, the time it takes the vehicle to deploy them, we have a solar power system environmentally friendly.
It is a highly flexible and easy-to-transport microgrid, which allows a temporary solar park to be improvised at once, opening up endless possibilities that make it a much more accessible energy.
Bring the panels into space
China is our next protagonist. Your galactic initiative is one of those that makes you feel vertigo. Not so much because of how high photovoltaic panels want to be taken, some 35,000 kilometers from Earth, but also because of what this would mean in terms of performance and revolutionary concept.
To this day, the project is only in its infancy. According to an official publication, the project aims to launch a photovoltaic plant into space to generate large amounts of energy thanks to its direct contact with the sun. It would orbit about 35,000 kilometers from the Earth's surface, far beyond the atmosphere, at a height very similar to that of satellites, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
It is, therefore, a government project, which seeks to maximize its performance. Specifically, this station is expected to generate much more energy than terrestrial ones. Among other reasons, because the filters of the atmosphere are avoided and could work non-stop, 24 hours a day.
When will we see this mammoth project? Experts do not believe that they will be able to have everything ready before 2030. Among other problems to be solved is the question of how to return the energy generated to the Earth and, in general, the concrete embodiment of a viable idea, for now, only in theory. This and other challenges are being solved at the China Academy of Space Technology.
A futuristic solar highway
Road "Solar serpent"It is, as its own name says, a solar path that obtains energy from the king star creating a peculiar tunnel in the shape of a snake. A futuristic design that has the particularity of also being useful for stop water pollution, noise and air pollution by capturing airborne microparticles.
The work of the Swedish architect Måns Tham, presented during a conference at the University of California in 2010, seeks not only to capture energy but also to help improve environmental quality, with a double benefit for the planet and society. His secret, very simple, actually. By covering the roads with translucent, almost transparent shades, which are photovoltaic panels and leaving the sides transparent, driving is pleasant, since the landscape can be contemplated.
This is how a minimum environmental impact is achieved, but change is fundamental. Change, molt, change skin like snakes do, move towards a low-carbon society. A symbolic design and name for a project that has little of a utopia, since since Belgium inaugurated the world's first solar snake in 2011 it is a reality.
Among its strengths, the optimal performance of photovoltaic cells, even compared to other solar roads. Let's remember inventions like the Solar Roadways, which also aspires to become an everyday thing. Its creators, Scott and Julie Brusaw, do not stop working on a system based on solar panels and LEDs for the road to achieve self-sustainability.
Basically, it is a tapestry of hexagonal solar panels made of recycled glass that facilitates driving at night and generally improves safety thanks to the energy it obtains. But, what differences are there with the Serpent road? Being able to orient the cells in a convenient way, following the position of the sun is one of the reasons for their efficiency, in addition to not being on the ground, so they get much less dirty and are especially durable. An entire invention that arouses enthusiasm.
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