John Lasich started concentrating solar power in his backyard in 1975. Now AGL, Chevron and Norway’s Equinor reckon he can deliver it after dark.
Multinational energy companies are pumping money into John Lasich’s idea to use thousands of mirrors, satellite-grade solar panels and big dams full of water to make the Mildura sunshine available after dark.
“I made a little concentrator, which was made out of the bladder from a wine cask. I got a couple of my mates at uni to help me drink a flagon of wine for good cause,” he recalls. As a “multi-junction” cell, PV Ultra can convert about 38 per cent of received sunlight into power; almost double the efficiency of the mainstream “single-junction” solar panels that are common on Australian rooftops.
“If that density of light power was allowed to do its thing and uncontrolled, it would end up well over 1000 degrees,” Lasich says.Raygen can capture heat by circulating cold water through the solar cells. The water rises in temperature to about 95 degrees by the time it has exited the cell.
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