Cool Energy Solar Power System for Northern Climates
Cool Energy's trademark SolarFlow System is a unique combined heat and power (CHP) system designed to make solar energy feasible in northern climates. The system, suited to residential and business applications, collects solar thermal energy to heat the home, and when thermal energy is not needed as heat, it gets rerouted through the SolarFlow's SolarHeart, a built-in Stirling engine that uses heat to create electricity.
Development of the SolarFlow System received a big boost when interstate utility Xcel Energy decided to support a pilot program testing out Cool Energy's technology. With Xcel's help, the system includes thermal energy storage, key to providing continuous home solar power and Smart Grid capabilities to help control energy production in line with the wants and needs of the local electric grid.
In the laboratory, utilizing a temperature differential of 210 degrees Celsius, the SolarHeart Engine generated more than 2 kilowatts (kW) of electricity. The system reached a thermal to electrical conversion efficiency of 16 percent, exceeding all expectations.
However, positive lab tests do not always translate into the field, which is why Cool Energy and Xcel Energy will collaborate on a pilot installation of the system on a commercial building in Boulder, Colorado.
Cool Energy and its SolarFlow system could end up a pioneer in the promising combined heat and power field. The system is uniquely suited to northern climates because, while solar electric systems can (currently) only collect solar energy efficiently in direct sunlight, thermal energy systems function even under cloudy skies. Therefore, the theory goes that solar CHP systems can harness and convert more solar energy into usable energy in the home or business than any single-technology system can.
In addition to support from Xcel Energy for its efforts, Cool Energy has received the 2009 Clean Tech Open Regional Sustainability Award, as well as grant funding from the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and Colorado's Governor's Energy Office.
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