produce electricity & heat water, one solar panel
Traditionally there have been two types of solar panels, a type that can produce clean electricity or heat your water. Entech Solar has developed a new type of panel that can not only produce electricity but it can also heat your water, killing two birds with one stone. This is a revolutionary development because with the same amount of surface area can take care of two energy needs.
The interesting aspect to the Entech Solar PVT (Photovoltaic Thermal) is the Fresnel lens which concentrates 20x sunlight onto silicon solar cells along with heating a pipe with water in it. This dual functioning solar panel will not be offered to the residential market. Although industrial and commercial such as hospitals and hotels will be able to deploy PVT systems for $6-$7 per watt. What do you think about this “all in one” solar panel? Will it be a success? Do you see any problems in using one solar panel to heat water and produce electricity?
