This Spinning Photovoltaic Cone Offers Greater Efficiency Than Conventional Solar Panels
The conventional PV panel is flat, covering a vast, open space may it be on land or roof. Its shape actually doesn’t matter as long as it is efficient in absorbing solar energy. But it turns out that an unorthodox solar cell design by V3Solar is capable of generating more electricity.
A third party has verified that the elegant Spin Cell cones of V3Solar can produce over 20 times more electricity than a static flat panel with the same area of photovoltaic cells.
The technology is packed in a one meter-diameter cone embedded with a layer of hundreds of triangular photovoltaic cells positioned at an angle of 56 degrees, encased in a “static hermetically-sealed outer lens concentrator”.
Photovoltaic power generation is done by the photovoltaic cone through spinning, run by a PV-generated power which is also feeds a Maglev system in order to reduce the noise and for maintenance.
“The spin is powered by a small amount of electricity that comes from the sun,” V3Solar’s Chief Marketing Officer Robert Styler tells.
“It only requires one amp because the unit floats on magnets, there is almost no resistance, and the magnets are arranged to push the spin forward. The rate of spin is controlled by electronic feedback loops to maximize production.”
Industrial design team Nectar Design helped V3 Solar in developing the device.
Its makers believe that the Spin Cell could be a game-changer in the market. According to V3, there is a difference of response when the conventional solar panel and the Spin Cell are placed in a 20x solar concentration.
For a flat, static photovoltaic panel, the temperature quickly reaches 260 degrees F, and the solder melts within ten seconds, and the PV fails. With the same concentration on the Spin Cell, the temperature never exceeds 95 degrees F, V3 explains in their website.
Spin Cells can also be used in another form called Power Pole, which is aimed to save space compared to conventional flat panels. As the name suggests, it is a pole, which holds 10 Spin Cells, or 10KWp, in a footprint of 10 SF. That’s a greater solar power generation in a small space.
In this setup, much attention is given to the Spin Cells not to shade another. This is done by placing them with utmost mathematical precision.
V3Solar had already secured its first licensing agreement to supply 800,000 Spin Cell units for a large photovoltaic farm.
Sources: New Atlas | Inhabitat
