May 21, 2009
skyline_solar
This video demonstrates Skyline Solar’s High Gain Solar arrays technology that it claims will bring the cost of
solar power to competitive levels in the normal electricity market. The
HGS system, which uses a novel parabolic reflector arrangement, is
being targeted at commercial, government and utility markets.

Besides the reflector arrangement HGS features single-axis vertical
tracking, plus compact PV collectors and convection cooling. In a news
release, Skyline says, “HGS architecture delivers ten times more energy
per gram of silicon versus traditional flat-panel systems in sunny
locations and offers industry-leading energy density.”

Like other concentrator systems,
Skyline says it can use less silicon (90 percent less) and produce more
power. The company also says savings comes from having a system that
has 66 percent fewer parts versus traditional single axis tracking
systems. Besides cutting manufacturing costs, fewer parts presumably
means lower maintenance costs.

Skyline says that pilot manufacturing of HGS components is underway
in the U.S. and Asia. It has received $24.6 million venture financing
from New Enterprise Associates and has signed a developmental contract
with the DOE for $3 million. Skyline Solar was selected as one of six
solar photovoltaic technology companies to receive a grant under the
DOE’s Solar America Initiative. The company was cited as developing a
technology that could “make solar energy cost-competitive with
conventional forms of electricity.”
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