Bill Gates-backed startup Heliogen unveiled concentrated solar technology that could achieve temperatures as high as 1,500C using software-controlled mirrors that focus sunlight onto a tower-mounted receiver.
The company has dubbed this low-cost, carbon-free, ultra-high temperature heat as HelioHeat™.
Heliogen emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday. Bill Gross, chief executive, and founder said HelioHeat would enable the company to contribute towards fighting the climate change crisis, according to The Guardian.
Heliogen uses smaller-sized heliostats (mirrors) that can be produced with relatively lower precision at automated, high volumes. “This allows for cost-effective production and fast installation, keeping costs low,” says Heliogen. “And to address the calibration and control challenges of small heliostats, we’ve developed and patented an innovative computer vision closed-loop tracking control system.”
The resulting superior optical accuracy generates very high temperatures (~1500C) efficiently at the receiver.
The low cost and high temperatures of HelioHeat will find application in the so-called climatically ‘dirty’ industries such as cement, steel, mining, and refining. Cement itself accounts for 7% of the world’s human-made carbon dioxide. Carbon-free HelioHeat could economically replace fossil fuels in these industries.
Also, in the future, HelioHeat could be used to produce ‘green’ hydrogen to power homes, transportation, and airplanes.
Read The Guardian article HERE.
Image Source of Heliogen’s Commercial Facility in Lancaster: Heliogen