Spinning Solar Cones Generate 20 Times More Power

V3Solar’s Spin Cell, developed through collaboration with industrial design team Nectar Design, is capable of generating 20 times more power than regular (aka – flat) photovoltaic (PV) cells, according to Inhabitat. Unlike traditonal solar panels, the Spin Cell is cone shaped and it spins, so it is capable of maximizing the sun’s rays at all points. The 1 meter-diameter cones feature hundreds of photovoltaic cells, all positioned at 56 degrees and encased in a “static hermetically-sealed outer lens concentrator,” New Atlas reports. Their own generated electricity powers the way they spin.

According to New Atlas, the spinning aspect of these panels is what keeps them from overheating. “Imagine holding your hand steady beneath a magnifying glass,” New Atlas quoted V3Solar as stating. “The heat would build up to a point of discomfort, even pain. Now imagine moving your hand back and forth below the magnifying glass. You still receive the same light, but very little heat.”

According to TrendinTech the Spin Cell “could revolutionize the solar panel market.” In addition to the Spin Cells, Power Poles have also been developed, which can hold up to 10 Spin Cells “that are precisely placed so that no one cell shades any part of another for maximum exposure.” The team hopes that a wide adoption of this technology could lead to a “significant reduction in the physical footprint and could even reduce the cost of owning solar farms quire significantly and make projects more economically viable.”