Rawlemon Makes the Most of the Every Day

Efficiency is a key ingredient in getting the most from the Sun. In places where sunlight is relatively abundant, current technology is more than capable of exceeding requirements. Given that the vast majority of energy on Earth ultimately starts at the sun, cutting out as many middle men as possible is self-evidently ideal.

But that’s easier said than done. Obviously, the Sun is only available during the day. And most solar panels have a fixed orientation, which lowers their daily efficiency. This all becomes a more concerning issue the further south or north you travel.

Companies like rawlemon are taking this issue seriously. Their approach uses spherical glass beads to focus a wide cone of sunlight down into an intense area: catching not only direct sunlight but surrounding diffuse light as well. This way, the solar panel itself can be much smaller; instead of re-angling a full solar panel to face the Sun, this small panel needs to move slightly throughout the day to follow the moving focal point of the glass bead. In essence, they face directly into the sun for as a long as possible.

Thanks to the focussing effect of the glass, they even claim that diffuse moonlight provides noticeable energy output, keeping it productive 24/7