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Generating electricity from a balloon
- mhb 18y agoMy party balloons deflate in a day. What keeps theirs from doing the same? Also there could be some durability problems. Just a thought.
- pchristensen 18y ago"manipulates the air pressure inside the balloon to change the shape of the mirrored surface so that it focuses the maximum amount of sunlight on the solar cell" Sounds like they're fancier than typical party balloons.
- ars 18y ago> My party balloons deflate in a day. What keeps theirs from doing the same? That's because they have helium in them (so they float). Put air in and they will not deflate. > Also there could be some durability problems. Mylar is a really strong material actually. I think they use it to insulate satellites.
- mhb 18y agoOK about the helium, but the air will still leak if the pressure inside is higher. Also as the air inside heats and cools the balloon will change shape. Maybe their system is so robust or cheap that these effects don't matter.
- ars 18y agoIt's an interesting idea: instead of making large sheets of solar cells, make a small one and gather the light from a large area and send it to the cell. And the real smart idea is the mirror - a simple balloon. But, I'm not so sure solar cells exist that can handle that much power. Yes you can send them more sun - but can they handle it? I think they can't - or least if they can, they saturate, so no matter how much more light you send their power is capped. And indeed, at the very end they mention that the solar cells they need don't exist.