Stratosolar
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Solar power |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | 2880 Zanker Road ste 203, San Jose, CA, 95134 United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Edmund Kelly (President) |
| Products | solar (PV) kites |
| Website | stratosolar.com |
Stratosolar [1] is a startup corporation created to develop buoyant stratospheric platforms for collecting solar energy. They have applied for two patents.
The current concept, "StratoSolar PV" envisions photovoltaic cells lifted above the clouds by means of lighter-than-air gas bags,[2] with up to 3.5X more power produced (per unit area) than ground-based solar arrays due to better exposure and also lower operating temperature.[3]
The original concept was to concentrate and direct light concentrated by a buoyant cassegrain reflector telescope structure down a buoyant reflective pipe [4] to the ground for use in conventional steam turbine power generation.
In both cases, minimal land use compared to earth-based photovoltaics is a stated benefit.
References
- ↑ Price, Toby (September 27, 2011). "StratoSolar "kites" could already be producing grid-parity solar energy". Renewable Energy Magazine. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
- ↑ Brian Wang (August 21, 2013). "Stratosolar now a straight photovoltaic system halfway between space based and desert solar". Next Big Future. Retrieved Mar 15, 2016.
- ↑ "StratoSolar Home Page". Retrieved April 28, 2013.
- ↑ "StratoSolar Home Page circa 2011". Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
