Podcast

Brad Hines is CEO of Soliant Energy, known until recently as Practical Instruments. He's a former NASA chief architect who started his company in 2005 with backing from some top-tier venture-capital firms, including Rockport and Nth Power.

I interviewed Mr. Hines about Soliant's technology and the outlook for rooftop concentrating solar modules.

Listen to the full interview in the podcast.

Soliant Energy's Heliotube concentating solar module is similar in shape and size to conventional flat-plate modules. Soliant can make the Heliotube larger, without the risk of breakage, because the module is not a single sheet of glass. Instead, it is made of parallel reflective troughs that focus the sun's rays on photovoltaic strips. This concentrating technique increases the photovoltaic efficiency.

Concentrating solar has been around for a long time, and we're seeing a revival in utility-class projects like Solar One in Nevada. Soliant's Heliotube product isn't at all like those huge ground-based tracking dishes. It's flat, and uses a form factor familiar to flat panel installers.

A motorized tracking mechanism makes the modules more efficient, even though they receive the same amount of sunshine as a conventional flat panel.

Spectrolab's high-efficiency solar cells will be integrated into Soliant's concentrator platform. Sandia National Laboratory will evaluate the overall efficiency of the unit, and SunEdison will evaluate the marketability. Meanwhile MIT will work on manufacturing techniques to bring the cost down.