This Could Be The World’s Most Efficient Solar System

This Could Be The World’s Most Efficient Solar System

A Swedish company claims that this small-scale concentrated solar energy system — which leans on ideas from a 19th-century Scottish clergyman — converts 34 per cent of sunlight into electricity. That could make it the most efficient solar system in the world.

The Guardian reports that the system — currently being tested by its makers, RiPasso Energy, in the Kalahari Desert — uses 100 square-metre dishes to focus the sun’s light to a single, hot point. The heat then drives a Stirling engine, first developed by Robert Stirling in 1816, which uses alternate heating and cooling of a closed volume of gas to drive a piston and, in turn, flywheel to generate electricity. The dishes swing on their axes during the day in order to capture as much light as possible.

Tests show that each dish could generate between 75 and 85 megawatt hours of electricity per year. For a little context, the same amount of electricity generated by coal-fired power station would create 81 metric tonnes of CO2. The claimed efficiency of 34 per cent compares incredibly well with other solar techniques, too: traditional photovoltaic cells currently manage around 23 per cent at best.

While the financial side of things remains unclear — and potentially prohibitive — RiPasso now claims to have secured funding to first large-scale installation. It will be interesting to see if it can hit it’s claimed 34 per cent efficiency at scale. [Guardian, RiPasso Energy]

Image by RiPasso Energy


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.