Introducing the SunCube™
What is the SunCube?
The SunCube fits the definition of a disruptive technology. That is, a product which will revolutionize an industry.
The SunCube Mark 9.2 represents the beginning of the new generation of solar photovoltaics. Standard flat panels and thin film use silicon cells which generate power by capturing part of the visible light spectrum of sunlight. Sunlight hits the cell which causes electrons to flow off and be transmitted by conductive material to an inverter, which changes the Direct Current to Alternating Current, into a service panel for use or directly into a utility meter to feed the grid. They are 10% to 18.5% efficient at turning sunlight into electricity. The SunCube uses nine one centimeter square gallium arsenide solar cells manufactured by Emcore Corporation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. These cells
have been used in spacecraft and satellites for over a decade.
The cells have three layers, one to capture the full visible spectrum,
one for infrared and one for ultraviolet light. In space they have a
39% or higher efficiency. Emcore is working on 50% and higher
efficiency cells and may release them within two years.
The SunCube is a high strength aluminum box about 37" square by 13" deep. The front is covered by nine acrylic fresnel lenses. Each focuses 1,370 suns onto an optical assembly which focuses the sunlight onto one cell. Our licensor Green and Gold Energy, Pty, Australia holds patents on this very specialized assembly.
This technology is over a decade old, tried and proven in the most difficult arena, space, with its extremes of heat and cold. The SunCube is the result of applying engineering to a practical problem– the need for much more solar power, to bring the cost of solar down to where it can successfully compete against new coal fired and other dirty power plants. Ironically, the technology, triple junction cells, is American. It took an US-born engineer living in Australia nine man years and four million dollars to develop what no one else has– the right vehicle for the best solar cells in the world. We are bringing this product to the USA and will build a factory in Colorado to manufacture it.
Each SunCube is mounted inside a "y" shaped yoke housing on a monopole which is embedded in the ground or mounted onto a flat roof. The yoke gives the SunCube flexibility in movement to track the sun throughout the year, even when the sun is north of the SunCube. Highly specialized firmware causes each SunCube to independently track the sun, staying within very tight focus to bring the maximum amount of sunlight onto the cells. When the sun begins to set the SunCube will turn to face downward, it sleep mode until dawn. When the sun rises the SunCube wakes up and begins tracking the sun's path through the sky.
The SunCube is a robot and as such follows Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Not only will it follow law #1 by design but the SunCube helps our long term survival by reducing carbon emissions twice as much as silicon panels. Law #2 is in the programming. Each SunCube does exactly what it is designed to do, reliably, without maintenance. The SunCube's production keeps its battery charged so it is entirely self reliant. But if one of the few fallible components does go down the SunCube will tell us and, for the first time ever, this solar module can be repaired.
When high winds start each SunCube feels the extra pressure on the motor and puts itself into a temporary sleep mode. It's nighttime sleep mode reduces dirt buildup by more than half.
For more information contact us.
 The heart of the SunCube: Nine triple junction solar cells from Emcore Corporation, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The cell has three layers, to catch visible light, infrared and ultraviolet. This is why its efficiency is so much higher than silicon cells. Still, it takes the right vehicle to maximize output. The SunCube's deceptively simple design provides optimized production. |
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 Satara, India ISO 9001 certified SunCube plant owned by Square Engineering, from which we will be supplied until our factory is commissioned. This factory has one assembly line now with 100MW/year production capacity. It has room for a second line, and land for a second building, so total production will be 400MW/year. |
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