Bill Gates startup may have hit a breakthrough in solar energy

Heliogen’s systems use AI and mirrored panels to generate heat (Image credit: Heliogen)

A new startup backed by tech guru Bill Gates has recently achieved promising results that could be a major breakthrough for solar energy. Heliogen claims they have been able to harness enough solar energy from mirrored panels to generate heat reaching temperatures above 1,832 Fahrenheit. That’s hot enough to possibly replace fossil fuels producing cement, steel, and glass, usually rely on fossil fuels.

The company achieved this with focused beams of light that create a solar oven reaching 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit, which hasn't been done before in a commercial setting. But it’s not just the beams alone that allow the temperatures to get this hot. They also use an AI system that has the ability to get the mirrors in the right position to concentrate the sunlight in the most intense way. Known as computer vision, the software uses high-resolution cameras to determine where the mirrors should be positioned. Complex algorithms then optimize the angle they’re set to.

"Heliogen represents a technological leap forward in addressing the other 75 percent of energy demand: the use of fossil fuels for industrial processes and transportation,” says Heliogen CEO Bill Gross. “With low-cost, ultra-high temperature process heat, we have an opportunity to make meaningful contributions to solving the climate crisis."

If companies were to use the Heliogen system, they could reduce their use of fossil fuel up to 60 percent, according to Gross. He also says that their systems will pay for themselves in two to three years if companies choose to buy the systems outright. Alternatively, Heliogen could manage installation for a manufacturer and charge them for power costs.

Currently, the company is testing smaller versions of the system at a field with an array of 70 mirrors to show that the super-concentrating technology could work. A full-scale facility covers about two acres of land with mirrors and a tower where the rays are concentrated. “It’s like a death ray,” Gross said of the concentrated solar beams.

In the future, Heliogen believes that it can use its systems to generate temperatures of up to 2,732 degrees Fahrenheit. This would be enough to create 100 percent fossil-free fuels like hydrogen or syngas, through CO2-splitting and water-splitting processes.

"[Heliogen's] capacity to achieve the high temperatures required for these processes is a promising development in the quest to one day replace fossil fuel," says Bill Gates. "If we're going to get to zero carbon emissions overall, we have a lot of inventing to do."

It’s clear Heliogen is aiming high with their plans for renewable energy, but there’s a lot more work to be done before the system is ready to be rolled out. Since the system needs scaling up, a lot more investment needs to be involved. Plus, there needs to be solutions for energy storage on days when the sun isn’t out. So for the time being, fossil fuels won’t be going anywhere soon.

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