University of Arizona Solar Device May Create Energy as Cheaply as Coal!

The University of Arizona's Steward Observatory Mirror Lab has produced the first prototype of a solar device that inventor Roger Angel hopes will eventually produce electricity from the sun at a price rivaling the cheapest fossil fuels.

Angel's design uses mirrors — 21 segments arrayed in a parabola on a lightweight aluminum frame — to focus the sun's light on a small solar cell.

Angel, the Mirror Lab's founder and director, said the device uses only about $200 worth of glass and eventually could be mass-produced for $1,500. At that price, the device would produce energy for $1 a watt, making it as cheap as coal-burning electrical plants.

www.azstarnet.com...

A cost-effective Solar replacement for coal-fired power plants - which still produce the overwhelming majority of the world's electricity?

Well I think this is huge news, if true!! Pass it on!

"The first prototype will be shipped next week to Raytheon Missile Systems, which could use the design to build portable solar generators for battlefield deployment, said Eric Betterton, a UA professor of atmospheric sciences who is principal investigator for the project."

Oh great, dont get your hopes up.

I'd venture to assume that most of this type of "research" being done at universities is under contracts or grants from defense contractors, government agencies or corporations?

Unfortunately things aren't done for the benefit of the many but more for the advantages of the few