Solar Panels

Ralphs, a subsidiary of The Kroger Company, announced the installation of a 2-MWac PV solar array at its automated distribution center in Paramount, California, a 555,000-sq-ft building that provides products to 190 Ralphs stores and 95 Food 4 Less stores throughout Southern California.

Don’t get too excited. What follows is a report about theoretical research in the lab which is a long way from commercial viability, but the implications of that research are simply staggering. Heat is the enemy of today’s solar panels. If they get too hot, their efficiency plummets. Researchers are working on ways to siphon some of that heat off and use it for other purposes, like making hot water. Others are exploring elaborate cooling systems that would add cost and complexity to solar systems.