Monday November 29, 2010, 11:37 am
Traditional photovoltaic (PV) systems convert approximately 16% of the sun's energy into usable electricity, discarding the remaining energy as waste, mostly in the form of heat. Solar cogeneration captures this waste heat and transforms it into real value--hot water. This cogenerative solution has the added benefit of cooling the PV components, which boosts the system's electric generation.
Solar cogeneration translates the sun's wasted thermal energy into an asset that generates further savings.

Cogenra has developed an extensive intellectual property portfolio covering its solar cogeneration technology. Cogenra Solar's proprietary technology captures up to 80 percent of the sun's delivered energy and produces five times the energy of traditional PV systems. To achieve these dramatic efficiency gains, Cogenra integrates advanced silicon PV cells, concentrating optics with single-axis tracking and an innovative thermal transfer system in a low-cost and scalable design...
http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=19910&pst=821720

Monday November 29, 2010, 1:24 pm
thanks Ben, noted

Monday November 29, 2010, 8:15 pm
Sounds really good.
I wonder how much hot water would have to be consummed daily for this to be that efficient? I also wonder how that hot water is stored? If in a normal hot water heater, how much of the pv electricity would be consumed keeping the hot water hot at night or when residents are at work?

Tuesday November 30, 2010, 5:17 am
I hope it's cost competitive with current solar PV and solar hot water systems.

Tuesday November 30, 2010, 9:00 am
A great idea and good news, thanks Ben.

Tuesday November 30, 2010, 1:39 pm
This is a great development and will hopefully be installed worldwide.

Tuesday November 30, 2010, 4:24 pm
This could be great for manufacturing plants and other applications that need both electricity and hot water. Also, I wonder if the hot water created is hot enough to drive turbines to create even more electricity. So many possibilites!

Tuesday November 30, 2010, 5:05 pm
Noted! Thank you.

Tuesday November 30, 2010, 7:52 pm
Big ~ Business ~ won't ~ like ~ it.......until they can find a way of making more money from it.

Tuesday November 30, 2010, 10:03 pm
Thank you for posting.

Wednesday December 1, 2010, 3:21 am
there is plenty of free energy out there but they do not want you to have it,because once you become self sufficient they can no longer control you,they cannot survive without you, and we all know who they are why should we pay these creatures just for being alive.

Friday December 3, 2010, 7:32 am
Amazing technology! This is what governments should be subsidizing instead of Big Oil.

Friday December 3, 2010, 8:55 am
Thanks Folks!

Monday December 6, 2010, 5:27 pm
more good ideas are welcome