UK firm hails solar steam breakthrough
UK renewables specialist Lark Energy has been granted a UK patent for a solar thermal system that it claims could have a host of applications for power generation and desalination.
Dubbed 'solar steam', the technology works by focusing the sun's rays through a Fresnel lens array onto a tube that contains water. The water is heated to create steam which can be used in industrial heating and cooling applications.
The angle of the lens array can be adjusted through a vertical axis to track the sun and is seated on a circular track that allows the array also to follow the sun's progress horizontally across the sky.
By tracking in both planes, the system maintains maximum levels of solar radiation concentrated on the tubes.
Lark Energy's parent company, housing developer Larkfleet Group, has been testing a small-scale version of the device at at its offices in Lincolnshire since August 2015.
Commenting on the development Simone Perini, renewable energy development engineer at Lark Energy, said: "Solar steam builds on existing ideas about using solar radiation to generate heat and takes them a step further.
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