posted by Sam Houston 51 weeks ago

i always thought party balloons could be used for something useful and now they are. huge balloon-like objects will be installed later this month not far from the national laboratory are in fact Cool Earth Solar's solution for capturing the sun's heat. Here's how it works: With one shiny side and one clear one, the 8-foot-diameter device reflects sunlight at 400 to 500 times its usual intensity onto a small solar cell mounted in the center of the balloon. That's where power is produced. Each balloon has a cooling system and a mechanism that allows it to track the movement of the sun. Each balloon generates 1 kilowatt of power at its peak, which means a 1-megawatt power plant would require 1,000 balloons. In California, 1 megawatt supplies 750 homes.