New Solar Energy Havesting Balloon

A new technology created by Cool Earth Solar uses very inexpensive inflatable plastic balloons that utilize a solar concentrator to focus sunlight onto a photovoltaic cell at the focal point. They claim that they can capture 400 times more energy than the average solar cell with this method. While it is very inexpensive to create the balloon itself, such cheap materials are hardly durable and the cost of maintenance may be high. Some other concerns other bloggers raise include the fact that the balloons are made from plastic and the fact that photovoltaic cells tend to become much less efficient at higher temperatures (400x) and may fail.

I am glad to see technological progress and innovation in the field of renewable and sustainable energy.