Sunflowers have been reborn for the future, and these ones you can’t give your loved one in a bouquet. Engineers in Switzerland has developed a massive solar sunflower, combining both photovoltaic solar power and concentrated solar thermal power in one package with a total efficiency of around 80 percent. It uses two constituent technologies that harness and concentrate energy from the sun—”to about 5,000 suns.” The flower is equipped with 36 highly efficient reflectors with photovoltaic cells that are capable of converting concentrated solar energy into electricity. The company, Airlight Energy, plans on manufacturing them to full commercial capacity by 2017.
The Solar Sunflower can harness the power of 5,000 suns
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