Orient Expression

In an innovation that could cut the cost of solar energy technology in half. Soliant Energy now provide a solar concentrator. One of the application problems of solar panels has been how to get the maximum efficiency out of the installation. One solution has been to mount the panels on a pole that allow sun tracking. The system from Soliant bypasses this need, which makes the panels subjected to wind conditions, by using traditional roof panels with individual panes that can track. The panes reflect the light to a row of photovoltaic cells. Read more from Technology Review .

This is the first of a series of new posts on how the electricity we use and the we use it is up for disruption, loosely termed Power 2.0 to stay in the trend of the 2.0 boom. For some time I have been looking to build a house here in Thailand and I am very keen to generate as much of our own power needs as possible. The emergence of alternative energy in Thailand is not very strong as today power is quite cheap. Thailand is blessed with an average of 12 hours of sunlight year round, yet the country still heavily relies on oil for electricity production. There are quite a few hydro electric dams in the country, mostly place by the King. One energy source, the Sun, is up for some changes as EGAT (Electrivity Generating Authority of Thailand) now agree to buy back any surplus energy. This change in the economics means that you could now recover the costs within 10 years opposed to the potential 20 to 30 years before. You can tell then that solar today is cost prohibitive. One of the ...