1. Three-dimensional arrangement of sunlight traps in conceptually devised HELIANTHUS solar power plants SALA CONSILINA (SA) 2007 Paolo Zozzaro* ITIS “G. Gatta” Roberto De Luca* Università degli Studi di Salerno * Don’t shoot us, we are only the piano players… HELIANTUSHELIANTUS HELIANTUSHELIANTUS

2. A solar trap: the Planckon system Is it possible to trap solar radiation? The answer is affirmative [1] [1] R. De Luca, F. Romeo, P. Zozzaro, Capturing sunlight, Eur. J. Phys. 27 (2006) 347-352 Primary mirror Secondary mirror to a black body z y  M1M1 M2M2 Light sensor

3. No convection liquid to heat water Black metallic nucleus containing water Opening for solar radiation intake Perfectly reflecting inner walls Rotating mechanical system A black body can be used to store radiating energy

4. Therefore, if we are able to concentrate sunlight in a small region in space and we are able to let this radiating energy enter, through a small hole, a cavity with highly reflecting inner walls, we can say we have trapped sunlight. In the PLANCKON system, sunlight is used to heat water in a spherical chamber. We can now extend this concept to black bodies of different shapes, in order to heat water or generate steam, as in an HELIANTHUS column. HELIANTUSHELIANTUS

5. solar collector water hollow cylindrical insulating layer metal jacket metal jacket containing water hollow cylindrical insulating layer Steam pipe HELIANTHUS: How does it work? Let us take a look inside…

6. What the advantages? Three-dimensional arrangement of solar collectors. A rough estimate for power output of a single helianthus column under partly cloudy sky conditions: P = N  A N=5;  =500 W/m 2 ; A=10 m 2, so that P = 25 kW. HELIANTUSHELIANTUS HELIANTUSHELIANTUS HELIANTUSHELIANTUS HELIANTUSHELIANTUS HELIANTUSHELIANTUS HELIANTUSHELIANTUS HELIANTUSHELIANTUS HELIANTUSHELIANTUS

7. Other applications? PV cells inside fiber PV cell Diffusing system and filter

8. IN CONCLUSION: Is sunlight trapping convenient as far as environmental issues are concerned? No need of convection fluids Saving horizontal space on Earth surface Confined energy (almost no harm to flying species, almost no physical impact on ground fauna) DRAWBACKS: it does not exist yet… Please let future life on Earth be possible!