One complaint about solar power sometimes raised, is how unattractive solar energy installations appear. They so often, so they say, do little to enhance the appearance of buildings or indeed the landscape.
Well from Germany comes a new design by architect André Broessel for a beautifully-striking spherical glass solar energy generator that could revolutionize the appearance of electric car recharging posts! It’s for producing either solar electric power, or hot water from solar heat and looks very different from what we are used to. It utilizes the focusing power of a sphere – in the same manner a drop of water can focus the sun’s light – to produce useful energy. It is claimed by the inventor to be up to 35% more efficient than existing designs and could conceivably (it is claimed) produce electricity for the light of the moon as well as the sun.
An extraordinary possibility and one offering the chance of making solar power more viable and cost effective – and to my eyes at least larger versions might well enhance the landscape or a cityscape, while a smaller installation could bring something interesting to a garden or roof.
The new design is in its early stages as yet, so currently no pricing is available to compare with standard types of solar power installations, but it just goes to show that there is much more to come in the developing world of alternative energy technology.
Check out more information on the spherical glass solar energy generator: http://www.eta.co.uk/2012/08/31/electric-cars-charged-moonlight
Check out Rawlemon’s B.torics system which is also being developed, to offer fully integrated building solutions with efficient solar energy generation (as pictured above): http://www.rawlemon.com/betatorics.html
