Tuesday, 7 April 2009

World's First Computer-Controlled Heliostat System for Heating and Lighting


A company called Practical Solar managed to create the world's first heliostat system that is controlled by a computer. With its help the sunlight provides enough energy for heating, lighting and other purposes.

The computer-controlled system takes advantage of the solar light even when it doesn't reach your house directly. One can install the heliostat system using only hand tools. The entire hard work is performed by the high-tech tracking technology software. The program regulates the focus and the angle while the sun moves.

Cutting down costs and saving energy use are the two main advantages of a heliostat, which can be used to direct natural sunlight in through a window. You can also use a number of heliostats in order to reflect natural lighting into a room.

When there's bright sunlight outside, one heliostat generates visible light that is equal to forty 100-watt incandescent light bulbs. In addition, the sunlight can cover an entire room in contrast to a limited range of a bulb. With the help of two heliostats one can generate about 600 watts of solar thermal energy. If a thermal receiver is added to accumulate heat then there will be enough energy to light up the house during the night.

With the help of individual heliostats you can have several targets, meaning that a heliostat can be used for a variety of tasks in different times, during different seasons. You can change the targets on demand or automatically with the help of timer function. It is worth mentioning that one heliostat uses less that 1/3,000 of the energy it generates. One driver box can control 200 heliostats.


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