Over their summer break, a group of 23-year-old American university students have developed what could become the world’s cheapest and most effective solar power generator.
The team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a solar dish that they claim extracts 1,000 times more power from the sun's rays than a conventional solar panel system and costs just US$5,000 (£2,500).
Using curved mirrors on the dish's aluminium surface, sunlight is magnified at such an intensity that it could melt steel. The power generated is directed towards a 12ft aluminium tube rising out of the centre of the dish.
At the top end of the tube is a section of coil containing water, which heats in an instant to create steam.
The students say this steam will be strong enough to power industrial processes, heat or cool buildings and generate electricity through a turbine.
MIT team debut $5,000 solar thermal system - 26 Jun 2008 - BusinessGreen
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