A German architect with a clear artistic flair has applied his incredible talent to the creation of a crystal ball that generates power. It sounds like something out of a traveling carnival, but the beta.ey, as it’s been named by its creator, is functional as well as eye-catching. The sphere can be installed in a range of locations and serves as a design aspect as well as a practical, operational power source.
The future of energy is a crystal ball
André Broessel is a German architect who lives and works out of Barcelona in Spain. His simple but effective sphere design incorporates different materials into a striking installation that delivers solar-generated electricity, even at night. The technology has real potential as a power source in the future and it’s a real plus that it looks as interesting as it does.
Although the output is similar to that generated by traditional photovoltaic panels, it’s completely different in appearance from the flat panels and way more pleasing to the eye. The giant transparent ball backs up its designers’ catchphrase:
“The future is not green, it’s transparent.”
Spherical sun power systems are the latest development in renewable solar power
Broessel’s energy-harvesting sphere acts like a giant magnifying glass using geometry and optical properties to draw power from sunlight, much like solar panels do and similar to another sphere endeavor in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The beta.ey energy solution delivers an efficiency rate of 57% and Broessel says his system is capable of squeezing “more juice out of the sun” and he believes that energy can be generated at night too.
How was the beta.ey technology developed?
Broessel isn’t solely behind the beta.ey, which was developed together with Rawlemon Ltd., an innovative solar energy company specializing in high-tech,next-generation mass-concentrating photovoltaics and concentrating thermal modules. Rawlemon summed up the new spherical tech:
“The beta.ey comes with a hybrid collector to convert daily electricity and thermal energy at the same time. While reducing the silicon cell area to 25% with the equivalent power output by using our ultra transmission Ball Lens point focusing concentrator, it operates at efficiency levels of nearly 57% in hybrid mode. At nighttime, the Ball Lens can transform into a high-power lamp to illuminate your location, simply by using a few LEDs. The station is designed for off-grid conditions as well as to supplement buildings’ consumption of electricity and thermal circuits like hot water.”
The technology can also be integrated with a hybrid collector that is capable of harvesting thermal and solar energy simultaneously, broadening its capacity and application options even more.
At night, the device can function as a high-powered lamp with the use of LED lights. Like conventional solar panels, the beta.ey can also be used to supplement energy consumption in buildings and could even be modified to be used as an electric vehicle recharging station. the technology is open to scaling up or down according to needs. The beta.ey tech system can also be used like solar energy harvesting windows.
How does the beta.ey sphere work?
The spherical generator works by using a large transparent sphere to focus sunlight onto a small surface area of mini-solar panels. Efficiency is enhanced because the solar panels used in the device are so small.
It is, in effect, an innovative form of other concentrated photovoltaic technologies (CPVs). Whereas existing examples tend to make use of mirrors and lenses to focus sunlight onto a solar cell collector, the beta-ey is just a transparent ball, like a giant, clear marble.
Using the same principles during the daytime, the beta.ey’s creators also claim it can be used to draw energy from moonlight, although at a much-reduced output than in the daytime.
It’s clear that innovations in the solar power sector aren’t slowing down in the slightest. A the technology develops, alternatives are becoming more efficient, effective, and affordable, such as PV systems that can harvest power from moonlight.