solar parabolic

March 23, 2008 by SolarInfo
Filed under solar power energy

Advantages of Parabolic Solar Systems

Solar energy systems have been around for years but their efficiencies are low due to heat loss and inefficient collection of the day's solar energy. The most efficient shape for a solar collector is the parabolic shape since it can focus the suns energy on a small heat exchanger, 10" x 10". By concentrating the sun's energy onto a focal point, less collection surface area is required and that lowers costs. In addition, parabolic solar collectors can have dual tracking capabilities. Traditional technologies are placed in a static, south-facing position to capture as much of the sun's radiation as they can. These systems hit their peak efficiencies for about two hours per day. However parabolic solar collectors can track the sun throughout the day which makes them 220% more efficient than flat panels.

Parabolic concentrators are like magnifiers that focus the suns energy on a small area. This intense heat cannot be achieved by flat panels or evacuated tubes. In order to gain the same thermal energy from evacuated tube panels you would need approximately 610m2 of panels, compared to a 10" x 10" collector.

The other advantage, of parabolic solar systems is that they do not suffer from stagnated heat conditions, as flat panel and evacuated tube systems do. Flat panels and evacuated tubes are, by their very nature, susceptible to heat stagnation. This occurs when the heat collected cannot be extracted from the collectors because the application has all the heat it requires. The tubes and panels cannot move out of the sun and as a result continue to collect energy which can be damaging and dangerous. Solar parabolic systems like SolarBeam Concentrator manufactured by SolarTron Energy Systems automatically turns the collector away from the sun to avoid overheating. Once the SolarBeam notices the need for more heat it focuses back on the sun and starts to collect more thermal energy.

The parabolic solar system used a well documented technology called "Concentrated <a href="http://www.solartronenergy.com/">Solar Power</a>" which uses mirrors and tracking system to focus a large area of sunlight onto a small area. The concentrated light is then used as a heat source for a conventional power plant or is concentrated onto photovoltaic surfaces. A study done by Greenpeace International, the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association, and the International Energy Agency's SolarPACES group investigated the potential and future of concentrated solar power. The study found that concentrated solar power could account for up to 25% of the world's energy needs by 2050. Also, with this expansion of concentrated solar power, thousands of new jobs would be created and millions of tones of carbon dioxide would be prevented from being released.

Thermal energy is an excellent source of green energy since it can be used in its raw form to provide heating or cooling for commercial applications like hotels, wineries, hospitals, schools, stores etc. The <a href="http://www.solartronenergy.com/">parabolic solar</a> can create enough thermal heat for use with absorption chillers to provide air conditioning. This optional is not available with standard flat panels and evacuated tube technology.

About the Author

Here the author Julia Herniak concludes the article Advantages of Parabolic Solar and Solar Power, visit http://www.solartronenergy.com

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