
If giant solar thermal power plants spread across the desert are like a mainframe, Sopogy is making the equivalent of a personal computer.
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"On cost per watt, we're cheaper than PV (photovoltaics)," said CEO Darren Kimura. "But that's not what really matters. We can do more production. We actually get more sun energy every day."
With a higher output, the payback on an initial investment comes quicker, he argued. The troughs can be used by corporate customers as well for on-site power generation.
In terms of the efficiency of converting sunlight to electricity, the SopaNova is between 20 percent and 30 percent, he said. That's lower than its larger CSP cousins, which operate at higher temperatures, but better than most solar photovoltaic cells.
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