Sometimes we get a little fired up about new developments in solar technology. This new solar energy system (pictured above) from SUNRGI is making us downright delirious. What is it exactly? Thought you'd never ask. This, my friend, is the latest in concentrated solar technology or Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics ™ - XPV™ as it is referred to by the company. If it lives up to its extraordinary claims of producing electricity for a meager ¢5Kwh, we may all be saying "Good-bye coal, helloooo sunshine".

It works by using a magnifying glass to concentrate sunlight to make it 1,600 times brighter than the sun. It's focussed onto a photovoltaic cell that converts more than 37 percent of the sunlight directly into electricity. Of course, there are other companies that make similar types of concentrated solar systems that can concentrate light by 500 times but where the SUNRGI excels is in the dissipation of the heat that gets created. Apparently it has some nanotechnolgical goop made by Spectrolab that helps conduct the heat away from the cell so it stays only 20 degrees above the outside temperature instead of 3,300 degrees which helps it reach that 1,600 times figure. Already tried and tested, co-founder Robert Black says it should be on the market in 12 to 15 months.

[Source: SUNRGI via GreentechMedia]

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