How balloons can generate cheap solar electricity & heat

Ordinary balloons can be used to capture solar energy. This video describes my experiments and prospects for solar power plants based on a large number of mirror balloons. Recently I bought this ordinary balloon, and now the same balloon is trying to set fire to this piece of newspaper, like this magnifying glass which focuses the solar radiation here. I think all of us have done something similar when we were kids. This is just the beginning of my experiments and the beginning of my attempts to create something like these balloons for converting solar radiation into electricity, or something like this big balloon for generating heat from solar energy, and I will describe all this 6 minutes later. So, my balloon is trying to be like these solar heaters. We know that this concave mirror focuses solar radiation at this point, where we can place a heat engine, or similar absorber, or other device for converting solar energy into heat or electricity. Therefore we can meet similar solar power plants based on a large number of mirror parabolic dishes. My balloon in the same way focuses the solar radiation, and its mirror is the inner surface of this side. But I had to make this 2nd side transparent so that it does not block the sun rays, and they are focused by this concave mirror surface. Now I have temporarily added a piece of paper so that we can better see this spot of solar radiation which is focused by the mirror side of my balloon. It is obvious that this spot should be focused inside this receiver which must convert the solar energy of that spot into thermal energy, and let ’s take a closer look at this receiver. This is one of the options for the receiver, and we see that it has this small window. In addition, we see this thermal insulation and this black tube for the circulation of heat transfer fluid. Such tubes can have a very simple manufacturing technology through the stamping of a conventional pipe. Of course, we can make it so that the water of this tank will circulate through the receiver, and be heated by that spot of solar radiation to a temperature in the range between 30…80 ºC. So, this balloon can do the same as similar solar collectors which are usually used for hot water supply of a house, for its space heating, for heating water of a pool or for heating a greenhouse. But my goals are more gigantic, and I want to prove the economic feasibility of some types of solar stations which consist of a large number of balloons. These balloons should produce a large amount of cheap electricity, similar to these well-known solar power plants. Or they should produce a lot of cheap thermal energy for various factories and plants, like these solar collectors which generate heat for copper production. Or our balloons should supply a large amount of thermal energy for district heating of cities, like these solar collectors. My goals are described by this formula which requires a reduction in the cost of our solar heat to a level of 0,5 cent / kWh, and it is approximately 10 times cheaper than the cost of heat from natural gas. Here we see that I am aiming for the cost of our balloons on the order of several dollars per sq.m of their concave mirror, for their lifespan of several years, and for the simple and quick replacement of old balloons with new ones. Let’s look at how I made this balloon, and this is how the balloon was when I bought it. We can understand that its factory manufacturing is very simple, and it is made from two polymer films costing less than 1 $ / sq.m. That is why these balloons can be very cheap. Now my balloon is filled with helium, which is very expensive, and therefore we have to fill our balloons with normal air. I remind you that I must remove the mirror layer from one of the two sides of the balloon, and now I will show you how I did it. Now I am pouring a well-known household cleaner into a plate. We have to carefully coat one side of the balloon with that liquid, and it is desirable to avoid getting the liquid on the other sides of the balloon. After that, I will remove the remains of the destroyed mirror layer and that liquid with water and paper napkins. Now I remind you how my balloon looks after I removed the mirror layer from this side. Then I installed this plastic ring, which displaces this transparent surface inside the balloon. This was required due to the fact that the focus point of my balloon was located inside it, behind this transparent surface, and setting the ring moved the focus point outward of the balloon.