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MIT solar dish could revolutionize global energy production



  1. Ogmin
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A team led by MIT students this week successfully tested a prototype of what may be the most cost-efficient solar power system in the world, which has the potential to revolutionize global energy production.

The system consists of a 12-foot-wide mirrored dish that team members have spent the last several weeks assembling. The dish, made from a lightweight frame of thin, inexpensive aluminum tubing and strips of mirror, concentrates sunlight by a factor of 1,000--creating heat so intense it could melt a bar of steel.
Ogmin

41 responses // MIT solar dish could revolutionize global energy production

  • This is awesome news.
    jubal
  • leave it to MIT to do something like this.
  • Anything that helps the world from giving all thier money to GREEDY BUSHIES and GREEDY ARABS is a PLUS and a BLESSING to me. Right on MIT!!!!!!!!!!!
    Robroy1
  • We need more innovation like this instead of clean coal and off-shore drilling.
    jefftego
  • Imagine what could happen if we really invested in solar technology. It would be much like the way this system works, a magnifying glass.
    jay_ct
  • yes, thank you innovators.
    drewsuf721
  • watch this comment being used here
    Finally a better way to fry an egg other then on the sidewalk!
    ivxx
  • ALL RIGHT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want me one...
    shelchak
  • I guess it was possible for Archimedes to burn the ships of Plinius using mirrors to reflect the sun.
    osiris326
  • I want one in the backyard so I can get off the grid! Great news!
  • Sounds great! People need to be focusing more time and money on science education so that we can create more innovators and inventors like the students at MIT. Their creative thinking and learning is what is going to help save the human race from destroying themselves.
    lmcniel
  • just dont sell the patent to the oil companies
    riverdeer
  • Yeah, when hear the "beep, beep, beep" of the semi backing up with a truck load of Exxon's money for all rights and patents try to keep the common good in mind.
    eldamon
  • Amazing. I'm surprised at students today who create inventions or make current technology better because they are pure geniuses and we need more like them!
    tarawr
  • cost effective green design enhanced by MIT students.
    excellent thought process.

    i would like to see this explored in more detail.

    thanks for posting.
    1Eco_Media
  • Whoo!
    One small step back for oil companies, one GIANT step for environmentalists!
  • Awesome!!!!
    VoyagerFilms
  • everyone needs to go green. this earth is lookin bad... good job mit
  • thanks MIT,
    but what took so long?
    better late than never i guess.
  • terrable news, liberals are running the world and the sun is about to declare war on our steel. vote mcain
    cursedasfunk
  • That's fucking dope, and it's from America!!
    cerealforeal
  • I learned about this company that is developing more efficient solar technology which combines a improved photovaltic cell, parabolic dish design, sun tracking and fuel cell storage for a home/consumer set-up that is more cost-effective and renuewable.

    They are competing with several other companies with simular patented designs. If it reaches mass production there could be a bright future ahead.

    they could be offering tax incentives for consumers who have there homes converted much like the rebate on hybrids offered in various parts of the country.

    Up until now this type of green technology has only been feasible for weathly hollywood excentrics but is becoming a viable solution for more and more people
    LucienRafagas
  • It is up to ourfuture generations to make us energy independent. Kudos to these bright young people.
    bluestranger
  • sounds dope!

    super efficient solar panels & noam chomsky is there anything mit doesn't have?
    blackdaylight
  • The solar revolution is on!
  • excellent news! however some "environmentally friendly technologies" like solar panels have unforeseen drawbacks because they don't biodegrade well or are made up of dangerous chemicals which are introduced into the environment once the panel is no longer used and put in a landfill. for this reason i think new technologies are only a fraction of the environmental movement. we need to focus on lower consumption and waste first. sorry to be a downer!
    keziahplum
  • covelogibbs
  • WOOT MIT!!! now if you could mainstream it and make it cheap you really are the most genious individuals I've ever heard of!
    MRprez
  • It's a great idea. I designed this same concept a few years ago after watching an episode of Myth Busters when they built a large mirror array to burn the ship. Although my concept is designed to either drive a steam turbine or sterling engine with the focused ray, but I have yet to build a physical prototype.

    I only hope they don't try to patent this idea because it's a pretty straightforward concept using basic materials and applications and the concept should be kept available for everybody's use, vs forming an exclusive use profiteering company that could basically eliminate a primary use of focused sun rays and potentially slow down the growth of this industry. Good job though guys!
    nowwatch
  • Right on! It's about time those MIT monkeys earned their keep. I just hope the oil companies don't squash the technology, as they have everything else. But with a Democrat in the Presidency, and now that Al The Great has swung public opinion, maybe the government will be ready to invest big time.
    http://a-civilife.blogspot.com
    WillBFair
  • bah! thats so true! dont see it to the oil companies!
    go figure why we dont have renewable energy NOW. oi.
    bicyclebasket
  • watch this comment being used here and here
    my house is going to be coved in solar pannels bling...bling baby
    cnote
  • That's great News! That is the size of a room. Hope will be cost effective so everyone will be able to get one. Go Solar!
    stopnoise
  • We really wont see any mass changes to alternative energy, the big oil, and coal companies haven't made enough money yet, maybe someday it will happen but probably not in my life time. all I can do is hope I guess.
  • Now, combine a micro solar concentrator, photovoltaic panels and a heat transfer system. A parabolic concentrator focuses sunlight onto panels that generate electricity. The concentrated sun light is also used to heat water, which can be hooked up to power a building’s air conditioning needs. A tracker moves the concentrator to follow the sun throughout the day.
    dcsmitty
  • let's get this ball rolling...
    jvanauken
  • from my post on the referenced site...

    Posted by: plusaf | June 28, 2008 at 09:28 AM

    um, also... what happens to the steam after it's done spinning the turbines for electricity?

    does it go to a cooling tower to be re-condensed or does it exhaust into the atmosphere as one of the most potent "hothouse gases" that exists?........

    is it recycled into the boilers or do they use the "cheaper" solution of pumping water out of the ground as a source? ......

    so why don't they use the molten-salt technique of the desert-based generators? ...........

    sorry; couldn't resist harasssing MIT... i'm an RPI grad....
    plusaf
  • A huge step in the right direction. I don't see how this could not become even more efficient over the next couple of years. Lets just hope they keep trying to improve it and not just market it...
    torybart
  • You guys should search for this on you tube. It is old news, there are a lot of people who have been doing this for a while longer than MIT has.
    jason1973tl
  • bad ass........
    gentjim