Zenith Solar - Israel Goes Green
Zenith Solar, a small Israeli company, has produced a solar collector that can produce in the vicinity of five times the electricity of a similar size area of photovoltaic solar panels.The Zenith generator consists of a dish of mirrors that reflect sunlight precisely onto a small piece of very high efficiency solar semiconductor material. This naturally generates quite high temperatures at the solar cell, which can hinder electricity production due to increased resistance. Zenith has solved this problem by using a water cooling system to keep the solar cells at their best operating temperature. The heat absorbed by the water is then also harnessed through a secondary steam turbine, located away from the dish. Another aspect the company is looking into is the residential market where the hot water from the dish could be used to supplement a home's water heating. The mirror dish is also mounted on a tracking device, so that it follows the movement of the sun. The company estimates that 16 of these dishes is sufficient to power around 100 homes, and that 12 square kilometers of these machines would supply up to 10% of the nation's power needs. The device can be used in commercial scale power stations or singly, as power generators for homes. The company aims to make these generators cheaper than solar panels for home use. While this company is still in its early stages, the technology looks good. If it is employed on a large scale in sun drenched areas of Israel, that nation may well achieve energy independence in the next 20 years or so. Return from Zenith Solar to Solar Power News or return to the Green Planet home page for more Solar Power facts.
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