IBM Research has teamed up with Airlight Energy, a Swiss-based supplier of solar power technology to bring you affordable Solar Technology by 2017. This is great news for green conscious people since solar technology at this moment is pretty expensive investment, not everyone can afford that regardless its efficiency and reliability in the long run. This project has the ability to concentrate sun’s radiation 2,000 times and convert 80% of that resource into useful energy, generating 12 kilowatts of electrical power and 20 kilowatts of heat on a sunny day. It’s enough to power several average homes usage.

The solar technology utilizes HCPVT (High Concentration Photo Voltaic Thermal) system which is designed to resemble a 10m high sunflower with a 40-square meter parabolic dish. The dish is made of patented fiber-based concrete which can be molded to almost any shape in less than 4 hours while still having mechanical characteristics similar to aluminum but with one-fifth the cost. This radical design is combined with high concentration is hoped to be able to reduce the cost of solar technology up to 2-3 times lower than comparable systems.

From : IBM and Airlight Energy

Aside from providing solar energy, HCPVT system can also be customized to provide you with drinkable water and air conditioning from its hot water output. It can filter salt water through its distillation system, vaporized and desalinated, meaning, this system might be able to provide 30 to 40 liters drinkable water/square meter of receiver area/day. It sounds very cool, doesn’t it?