High Gain Solar arrays with more metal and lesser silicon to cut costs

High Gain Solar (HGS) arrays, a solar concentrator that relies on more sheet metal and less silicon has been unveiled to cut costs by the Skyline Solar. Its arrays, expected to be available later this year, are targeted at commercial customers and utilities looking to generate from about 100 kilowatts to megawatts worth of electricity. The company has a 24-kilowatt demonstration facility at a plant in San Jose, California. Skyline Solar’s concentrator is built around a reflective metal trough that concentrates light onto strips of monocrystalline silicon cells. A tracking system follows the sun over the course of the day so that sunlight bounces onto the cells directly. By concentrating the light onto these cells, Skyline Solar says it can deliver 10 times more energy per gram of silicon compared with traditional flat solar panels. Time will tell if these will sell well and help reduce the depleting ozone layer.
[Cnet]