Orb-Shaped Solar Power Device Works on the Cloudiest Days

The sun delivers enough energy in one hour to power all human lives for a year, explains Tuan C. Nguyen for Smithsonian Magazine. But collecting, containing and distributing that energy remains a costly challenge. Also, solar-panel production on its own carries a heavy carbon footprint. So far, research focus has been on crystals and other magnifying devices that concentrate sunlight. A German architect claims that a water-filled orb over solar panels could concentrate sunbeams even on cloudy days, and “estimates that the clear ‘ball lens’ helps improve efficiency by up to 50 percent annually – all while using a cell arrangement that comprises less than 25 percent of the silicon cell area found in most systems,” Nguyen reports. The device uses “a dual-axis tracking feature to monitor the continually changing position of the sun and adjust accordingly to maximize input.” The inventor has a few months to pay for patent rights before the device is consider open source. – YaleGlobal