Sunflower: High-Concentration PV for rooftop nearing release

[Gold Metal Flake]

http://www.energyinnovations.com/products/

The Sunflower is the first high concentration PV system designed for commercial rooftop and adjacent ground-mounted applications. By combining the world's most efficient solar cells with proprietary lenses, self-powered tracking, and a unique two-axis tracking carousel, the Sunflower delivers more energy at less cost than traditional PV systems. We are currently in the final stages of testing and expect to deliver the first commercial units in 2008.

I have heard 250 watts for a single Sunflower assembly, but output is not yet stated on the website that I have found. Don't see anything about price yet. This is just the beginning of rooftop CPV.

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. For the technologically impaired,

what is PV and what is CPV, and what is the difference?

[Gold Metal Flake]

2. PV= Photovoltaic.

In other words, solar cells.

CPV is concentrated photovoltaic.

Sunlight is gathered by lenses (or morrors) and concentrated onto a solar cell at intensities many times the normal strength. Ever burned a hole in a piece of paper or a leaf with a magnifying glass? That is concentrated sunlight.

The EI Sunflower CPV system focuses 800 times the normal strength of sunlight onto the most efficient space-type solar cells made to generate the same amout of current as much larger silicon solar arrays. Takes up less space.

[Dead_Parrot]

3. PV is short for photovoltaic...

...what you normally think of as a solar panel (a big slab of silicon). CPV (Concentrating photovoltaic) uses much smaller bits of silicon, and a system of lenses (or mirrors) to focus light onto it: Since the lenses tend to be cheaper than the silicon, it brings the cost down, although they are a little more fiddly to build - especially if (like the OP) they have to track the sun to stay focussed.

[kestrel91316]

4. PV = photovoltaic(s)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaics

[BlueEyedSon]

5. Their map leaves a lot of us in the dark