Directory:Cool Earth Solar
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Cool Earth Solar (CES) has developed an inflatable solar concentrator technology that slashes materials costs, making solar competitive with commercial electricity generation systems.
Their patent-pending solar concentrating Photovoltaic system which will produce energy at significantly lower cost per installed watt as compared to any current renewable energy generation system. CES has achieved this goal by reducing the material costs, designing for high volume disruption, focusing on a vast under served market and embracing labor/maintenance. The Cool Earth Solar system will be viable for large-scale utility generation and smaller commercial net metering scenarios.
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About
Official Website
- http://www.coolearthsolar.com
- Presentation from Solar Power 2006 (http://www.coolearthsolar.com/CoolEarth%20Solar%20Power%202006%20Presentation.pdf) (pdf)
Video
- Inflatable Solar Collectors - "CoolEarthSolar.com has a patented idea for inflatable solar collectors that are much cheaper than polished mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto Photovoltaic chips. Their design is 400x cheaper than polished aluminum mirrors, will withstand 130 mph winds, lasts a year, repairs with tape, takes 15 minutes to change out, costs $2 per balloon, or 18 cents per watt, compared to $5 per watt for conventional installations, and has a minimal effect on the ground underneath the array!" (YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kROgE4Jdm-k) July 10, 2007)
Latest Developments
February 2008
Received $21 million in funding to build pilot plant
March 2007
Building prototype for Fall 2007 and raising capital to enable rapid growth.
How it Works
source (http://www.coolearthsolar.com/CoolEarth%20Solar%20Power%202006%20Presentation.pdf)
Attributes
source (http://www.coolearthsolar.com/CoolEarth%20Solar%20Power%202006%20Presentation.pdf)
- Inflatable mirrors are 400x cheaper than polished aluminum mirrors.
- 2-m diameter
- Withstand 130 mph winds
- 1-year life span of replaceable films
- repair with tape
- replace in 15 minutes
- $2 cost
- Rigging requires 60x less steel than truss work [for conventional solar]
- Minimal grounds preparation
- Much faster installation
- Land use and habitat minimally affected
Price Point
" Our Phase II system will cost (us)
- 18 cents / Watt for materials
- 29 cents / Watt installed in a large solar farm
Compared with $5 / W for conventional solar installations." [1] (http://www.coolearthsolar.com/CoolEarth%20Solar%20Power%202006%20Presentation.pdf)
Patents
- 4 Patents Filed
- Several in process.
Company Profile
Founded in 2007, this new company is in the process of building the concentrated solar PV modular and system. CES is looking for top engineering and business talent to assist.
- "Our goal is to cut the cost of solar electricity to a price that is truly competitive with coal and other non-renewable sources--while generating profits for our users on par with today's best investments." -- company website
Business Model
source (http://www.coolearthsolar.com/CoolEarth%20Solar%20Power%202006%20Presentation.pdf)
- FY07+ - 10-50 kW installations
- FY08+: 50 kW - 1 MW installations
- FY10+: 1-10 MW Micro-utility franchises
Status
source (http://www.coolearthsolar.com/CoolEarth%20Solar%20Power%202006%20Presentation.pdf)
- Proof of principle complete.
- Detail design and subsystem prototyping under way
- Seeking manufacturing partnerships
- Building manufacturing team
- Seeking investment to bring Phase I product to market by end of 2007
In the News
- Solar Bubbles Get Funding (http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1384/) - Cool Earth Solar has received $21M in funding to build a pilot plant. The company is developing inexpensive solar concentrating mirrors in transparent balloons to lower the cost of solar photovoltaics. (EcoGeek; Feb. 19, 2008)
- Concentrated Solar > Coolearth > CoolEarth Solar Receives Major Funding (http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/03/03/solar-balloons-coolearth-gets-21-million-in-funding/) - CoolEarth, which develops and owns solar power plants utilizing a proprietary concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology (reflective balloons), has received $21 million in VC funding for a cost efficient power plant that competes economically with conventional fuels. (Inhabitat; Feb. 14, 2008) (Thanks RLP)
- Inflatable solar? Coolearth Concentrated Photovoltaics (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/12/inflatable_solar.php) - Coolearth Solar has patented a design for inflatable solar collectors that are supposedly a cheaper way to concentrate sunlight onto photovoltaic cells. They claim their design is up to 400 times cheaper than polished aluminum mirrors. (TreeHugger; Dec. 6, 2007)
- Balloon technology could cut cost of solar energy 90% by 2010 (http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0221-coolearth.html) - CoolEarth Solar could make solar energy cheaper than coal within 3 years using inflatable solar PV concentrators suspended above farmland. The company hopes to cut the cost of electricity in a 1 MW installation to 29 cents per watt by 2010, with limited environmental impact. (Mongabay; February 21, 2007)
- Won runner up at the California Cleantech Open in 2006 for concept.
Contact
CoolEarth
7665 Hawthorne Place
Livermore, CA 94550
email: jbonanno {at} coolearthsolar.com
NEC Specialists
- New Energy Congress member, Jonathan Bonanno, is an investor and sits on the Board of Directors of Cool Earth Solar.
See also
- Other Directory listings
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