by Michael Edwards

At Green Products, we have come across a product from Cool Earth: Solar Balloons. Cool Earth was created with the mandate of producing electricity using solar power, specifically solar cells. Solar power is not a new concept, but how the sunlight is collected and concentrated is truly unique. One of the areas of concern with the current flat-panel solar design is cost. Flat-panel designs require metal cases, rigid mounting hardware, heavy glass and large amounts of cell material. The cost per watt for solar panels is generally 5 to 7 times greater than conventional power plants. This is no longer true with the solar balloon system. One side of the balloon is made from reflective silver Mylar plastic. The other half is transparent to allow in sunlight. The silver material is parabolic-shaped to concentrate the sunlight on to a single point to achieve maximum light concentration. This is why high performance solar cells are used. The orb’s design will concentrate the sunlight 300 to 400 times better than traditional roof mounted solar panels. By design, this reduces the cost of each balloon and greatly increases electrical output per cubic inch of solar cell material. This means that the cost of the electricity produced will be on par with current natural gas power plants. The basic structure of each orb is simple. It has a lightweight circular metal frame with an arm that holds the solar cells near the top of the clear side of the orb. Even though the balloon is eight feet in diameter, the frame is the only rigid component of the basic design. It connects to a point where external hardware is attached for mounting. Like all solar designs, the system will not be used as a base power plant because the energy collected during the day cannot be economically stored for nighttime operations. On the other hand, the system will be an ideal "peaker" power plant to be used during the hot summer months when energy demands are high. Some of the more interesting aspects of this solar power station are how simple the design is and how multiples are pulled together to produce a solar power plant. Check it out. Michael

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