Raw Solar – Pics and video of Raw Solar, aka RawSolar, the MIT breakthrough in cheap solar energy using a simple mirrored dish to multiply solar power 1,000 fold.
The Raw Solar project team at MIT assembled a 12-foot dish with a lightweight aluminum frame that is reportedly the “most efficient solar collector in existence”.
The student team has formed a solar power company called RawSolar to market the invention patented by Doug Wood, a solar energy inventor in Washington state.
Wood credits the students who built this dish, as an independent project that started in January, with making significant improvements to his original design to make it a practical and competitive energy producer. “They really have simplified this and made it user-friendly, so anybody can build it,” he says.
Making an inexpensive design was something Wood discovered by accident as he built a variety of solar dishes over the years: Smaller really is better.
A smaller solar dish requires much less support structure, so for a given collecting area, it ends up costing only a third as much.
The dish generates so much heat that it will melt steel at it’s focal point. That type of immensely concentrated solar energy can cheaply produce green power by using steam turbines to produce either heat or electricity.
RawSolar Video
Matt Ritter explains how the MIT solar dish works. Video / Patrick Gillooly,
MIT, via MIT TechTV
Inventor Doug Wood demonstrates the solar dish’s power by using it to set fire to a board held at the focal point. Video /David Chandler, MIT, via MIT TechTV
And that’s the latest news on MIT’s Raw Solar breakthrough.
Tags: green, MIT, MIT students, raw solar, rawsolar, solar cells, solar electricity, solar power
June 20th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
[...] Raw Solar – Pics and video of Raw Solar, aka RawSolar, the MIT breakthrough in cheap solar energy using a simple mirrored dish to multiply solar power 1000 fold. The Raw Solar project team at MIT assembled a 12-foot dish with a … [...]
June 20th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
[...] Raw Solar – Pics and video of Raw Solar, aka RawSolar, the MIT breakthrough in cheap solar energy using a simple mirrored dish to multiply solar power 1000 fold. The Raw Solar project team at MIT assembled a 12-foot dish with a …All The Latest News – http://a11news.com [...]
June 20th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
[...] rgonzalez wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptRaw Solar – Pics and video of Raw Solar, aka RawSolar, the MIT breakthrough in cheap solar energy using a simple mirrored dish to multiply solar power 1,000 fold. The Raw Solar project team at MIT assembled a 12-foot dish with a lightweight aluminum frame that is reportedly the “most efficient solar collector in existence”. The student […] [...]
July 7th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Stock, ticker symbal
July 20th, 2008 at 8:10 am
I’m with Caple. Going publick anytime soon? I’ll buy stock.
March 10th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
I WANT TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY DISH TO TRY OUT ON MY SIMPLE STEAM TURBINE. I WONDER , HOW MUCH STEAM TEMPERATURE THIS STEAM CAN REACH.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
I am interested in backyard electrical generation possibly with surplus to grid.
Retired – would love to test.
My Fantasy:
small gyro version for 30′ boat ( fresh water making and/or electricity)