V3 Solar has a new kind of solar collection system that, as anyone can see at first glance, is radically different from the traditional flat solar panels that we all are used to seeing.  V3Solar Corporation is a US Delaware company with its Head Office in Los Angeles, California, its R & D laboratory in Talent, Oregon and its South East Asia office in Melbourne, Australia.  The company has two primary solar cells that they are marketing, the SPIN Cell (first video) and the Cool Spin (2nd video) solar collectors.  

SPIN Cell

The spin cell is a conical shaped outer lens “concentrator” that provides light concentration.  This concentration produces substantially more light for the cells to utilize than would normally be available during that part of the day.  This concentrated light hits the cells on the inside of the cone that are spinning which cuts down on the extreme heat that is normally associated with light concentration.  The revolutions per minute are precisely timed and automatically adjusted to take in enough sunlight to sustain photovoltaic segment light saturation at peak threshold, and reduce the heat of the PV by rotating it in and out of direct sunlight.  The benefits of the concentrated light without the destructive issues of the intense heat make for a more efficient solar collector in a smaller space.

The Power Tree is a concept that V3Solar has for mounting the Spin Cell in an array of “Power Trees”.  This further reduces the space needed and opens up a whole new market opportunity in PV power generation.  PVSolar has hinted at this use for things like parking lots and street lighting.  The Power Tree allows each Spin Cell to be mounted vertically and horizontally in an offset fashion to avoid the negative shadow effects other sun collection systems have while maximizing electrical production. 

POWERPOLE

Click Image For Larger View.

Another inherent benefit of the Power Tree is the ability to operate the Spin Cells above any potential flood lines.  This can be an excellent solution for flood prone regions on the globe such as Thailand, where floods have washed away entire solar farms.  The Spin Cell solar farms can be built to include monitoring for each Spin Cell, linked directly to a control room to maximize energy output and the overall performance of the individual Spin Cell or farm of Spin Cells.  The other benefit is the expected lower cost per watt of installation due to the reduction in the amount of land required for its installation and the improved performance.

While most people factor cost per watt peak as the standard metric of most PV’s, the total cost of energy produced is the actual bottom line.  Just because an individual has been able to get the lowest priced solar panel cost does not guarantee that they will have lowest total cost of energy.  This is due to the other equipment most people forget to factor in for maximum solar collection, namely sun tracking, inverters, power density, location and dynamic flash rate.  This is where the V3Solar Spin Cell provides the lowest total cost of ownership and “the most efficient energy under the sun.”

Cool Spin

The cool spin is designed to be plug compatible with the industry standard flat panel.  Designed to provide DC output only, the Cool Spin is able to be “plug compatible” with existing solar installations.  The foot print is identical to today’s flat panels with the only difference being the depth of the units.  The Cool Spin provides an overall improvement in energy production over the standard flat panel because it does not suffer from a loss of energy production due to the retained heat associated in the typical PV flat panels.  

The Cool Spin concept was developed as an easy step for manufacturers to incorporate many of the features and benefits of V3Solar’s Dynamic Spin technology, but in a form that is plug compatible with the industries current products.  This allows for an easier transition from current flat panels to the new Dynamic Spin based Cool Spin panels.  In this way the technology will be more acceptable to current markets and opportunities.

(h/t inhabitat.com)