Green Entrepreneur KhoslaBacks Technology to Boost Solar Yield

Vinod Khosla, the founder of Sun Microsystems and a leading investor in alternative energy technologies, is funding a solar energy company that reportedly can double or triple the energy yield from solar panels by capturing waste heat. The New York Times reports that Khosla is backing a company, PVT Solar of Berkeley, Calif., that is developing technology to collect the large amounts of heat generated around solar panels and pump it into homes and buildings to augment heating systems or heat water. In current photovoltaic systems, only a quarter of the sun’s energy is converted to electric current, while the rest is radiated back into the atmosphere or collects under roofs. PVT’s new systems, which the Times describes as “a marriage of solar photovoltaic technology and solar thermal systems,” are designed to harness that heat at little extra cost, the company says. Photovoltaic cells perform better at cooler temperatures and removing waste heat also will boost the efficiency of solar panels, PVT says.