The engineer who broke numerous ballooning records with Richard Branson is hoping to develop a 1km-tall inflatable chimney that can capture energy from the sun.
Per Lindstrand, whose work in balloon manufacturing led to his world-first Pacific crossing with the Virgin founder, is leading the British attempt in the race to commercialise a 110-year-old idea for a solar updraft tower.
The Swedish-born aeronaut believes the tower, which uses rising air heated by the sun to drive turbines, could provide an alternative to photovoltaic generation in remote areas of seismic activity where maintenance of power lines or solar panels would be difficult.
Lindstrand became involved with the project after he was approached by the ALMA Observatory in Chile’s Atacama desert, which was looking for a greener alternative to its gas and diesel generators that was more robust than solar panels.
Several other groups are working on commercialising solar updraft technology, the idea for which goes back to the early 20th century, but Lindstrand believes bringing his experience in inflatable structures to the table has advantages over concrete, metal or glass models, particularly in desert locations.
‘The problem in this part of the world is the sand is very fine and would very quickly clog up solar panels so you have a very big cleaning job in a place that has no water,’ he told The Engineer.
‘The advantages with inflatables is you manufacture directly from the cutting table; you don’t have things like a metal structure that has to be jigged up and welded so it’s a lot quicker and easier to make things in fabric and to make changes.’
To generate enough power for the ALMA observatory, the chimney will need to be 1km high with a 7km-radius canopy at its base to heat the air to drives the turbines.
Read more: http://www.theengineer.co.uk/energy-and-environment/news/per-lindstrand-plans-1km-high-inflatable-solar-energy-chimney/1017508.article#ixzz2lKhfN5Ex
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