SolarX Hybrid Solar Panels

In a very interesting development, the news has just been leaked that the SolarX company has launched a new SolarX Hybrid Solar Panel. It is an ingenious design that combines the electricity producing components with thermal capture.

To our knowledge this is the first time that solar thermal has been combined with solar electric panels. Combining PV production with the innovative approach of heat capture for solar hot water has been something we have considered for quite some time.

Even in our very first installation we noticed the tremendous heat build up on regular solar modules. Could it be captured and used? It looks like it can. According to the company, the SolarX Hybrid Solar Panels are the first on the market to offer this innovation.

The system combines the features of the SolarX company patented SolarX 164 parabolic thermal collector with solar cells mounted around the edge. And that’s not all – the company’s proprietary SunHound tracking device actually follows the sun, making for incredible energy capture and efficiency. The output figures look great in both electric and thermal readings. The solar panels provide some power to follow the sun with the tracker but most of it is diverted to energy capture for your home. The overall gain is more than that used by running the tracker.  Any excess power can of course be used to feed back into the grid or run your home.

Installation appears quite easy and is even modular, allowing you to add on as your finances and budget allow. They are designed for institutional, government, commercial and residential applications with many uses overall. They can even be used in stand alone solar set ups.

We have seen many innovations in this market but by combining solar electric panels with solar thermal we think this could have good applications on a number of fronts.