Balloon technology could cut cost of solar energy 90% by 2010

The closely-held firm has developed a technology that essentially uses a string of balloons to concentrate and capture the sun’s energy without occupying valuable real estate or using large amounts of silicon.

“Inflatable concentrators gather light and focus it onto photovoltaic cells, increasing the energy impacting the cells many times over,” explains the CoolEarth website. “Series of concentrators are suspended on support and control cables stretched between poles. By suspending the concentrators, vast areas of land can be easily converted for solar energy production with limited environmental impact. The ground beneath the concentrators remains free for other uses, such as farming or ranching.”

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