The "Stem" machine.
Magaldi Group

The same heat that burns your feet when you walk on sand could be the key to making clean energy and endless electricity. An Italian firm, Magaldi Group, is doing so by using sand as a storage system to eventually concentrate solar energy.

Heliostats capture sun rays and reflect them onto a large mirror, which then redirects the sunlight into a cylindrical steel container filled with sand. Here, sand is exposed to temperatures of over 600 degrees C. The hot sand then produces steam which generates electricity.

The company, from Salerno, developed Stem (Solare Termodinamico Magaldi / Solar Thermo Electric Magaldi), and aims to expand over Italy and all other countries with high solar concentration.

"We represent an alternative to other kinds of renewable energy," said Letizia Magaldi, manager at Magaldi Group and daughter of its founder Mario. "Compared to solar panels, Stem can also produce energy at high temperatures and also when there is no sun. It's a solar battery."

"The system allows for energy to be produced also at night time. It also uses materials that are compatible with the environment, which makes it eco-friendly as well."

Magaldi Group has a background in industrial installation for the handling of high temperature materials.

"We are investing in young people, on patents, research, and development," said Magaldi.

A2a company, who invested in Stem, is using it in the integrated energy pole in San Filippo del Mela, in the Messina province of Sicily. The company has signed an agreement with Magaldi group to buy more "Stems" to be installed in other sites.

"We aim to replicate the project with A2a and then produce electrical energy wherever there's sun - in places like Sub Saharan Africa, the United States or South Europe. The potential is enormous as production doesn't stop at night time."

One Stem can make 500 kWh, which is equal to the daily intake for 200 families in two hectares of land (which would be almost 5 acres).

Claudia Romeo contributed to the translation of this article, which original appeared at BI Italia.