The brightness of 60,000 suns.The brightness of 60,000 suns People who want to use solar energy solar energy, any form of energy radiated by the sun, including light, radio waves, and X rays, although the term usually refers to the visible light of the sun. for high-powered applications must somehow concentrate the sunlight that is received on the surface of the earth. Various arrangements of mirrors and other optical components will do this. Now, at the University of Chicago, physics professor Roland Winston and graduate student Phillip Gleckman have designed a solar concentrator that uses "nonimaging" optics to concentrate sunlight to an intensity of 6 kilowatts per square centimeter centimeter (sĕn`tĭmē'tər), abbr. cm, unit of length equal to 0.01 meter, the basic unit of length in the metric system. The centimeter is the unit of length in the cgs system. It is approximately equal to 0. , or 60,000 times the normal intensity of sunlight on the earth. The previous record for solar concentration was below 1 kilowatt per square centimeter, they say. Winston and Gleckman use a 16-inch astronomical mirror borrowed from the university's Yerkes Observatory Yerkes Observatory, astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wis., on the shore of Lake Geneva. It was founded in 1892 with funds provided by Charles T. Yerkes and its first director was George E. Hale. The observatory is administered by the Univ. of Chicago. , but to it they add a device that squeezes the image the mirror makes. A large mirror will gather more sunlight than a small one, but it also makes a larger image than the small one, so it may not represent much gain in energy concentration. The "Winston concentrator" is a precisely machined cone of silver placed at the focus of the 16-inch mirror. It squeezes down the image of the sun made by the mirror, which is 1 centimeter across, to a spot less than 1 millimeter across. One importance of this achievement is that it is above the energy concentration -- about 5 kilowatts per square centimeter -- needed to energize en·er·gize v. en·er·gized, en·er·giz·ing, en·er·giz·es v.tr. 1. To give energy to; activate or invigorate: "His childhood varieties of lasers that have many scientific technical uses. Among the possible applications, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Winston, are laser communication in space, development of materials, disposal of hazardous wastes and isotope separation Isotope separation The physical separation of different isotopes of an element from one another. The different isotopes of an element as it occurs in nature may have similar chemical properties but completely different nuclear reaction properties. for nuclear fuels. |
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