Technology transfer: Solar power and distributed rural electrification

The objective of this paper is to assess and transfer a high efficiency multi-junction photovoltaic technology developed at the National Renewable Energy Lab to a startup venture. The multi-junction cell will be located at the focal point of a parabolic reflector integrated into a small solar tracking system. This technology is a rooftop satellite-dish-sized reflector that will track the sun, focusing many suns of intensity onto a small high efficiency photovoltaic multi junction cell target. Society has benefited greatly from electrification as it moved from cities to rural communities, and finally to the dispersed few at the end of the line. There are still some rural communities in the world where there are no medium to large electrical energy transmission systems. The state of electrical transmission systems in different countries depends heavily on whether the economy is developing or industrialized. The total world electrical energy usage today is 18 TW-hr (1 TW-hr = 1012 W-hr). Total electrical loads are forecasted to rise to over 30 TW-hr by 2030 but this estimate could be low. Solar resources are great enough, and high-efficiency multi-junction PV concentrating solar power tracking systems could convert enough sunlight into electrical energy to meet forecasted world electrical load growth.

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