When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Spain

Could A Glass Sphere Revolutionize Solar Power?

A German-Spanish startup has created technology it says is so effective turning light into energy that it can also utilize moonbeams and office building windows.

betaray
betaray

BARCELONA — Looking into a glass ball has always meant looking into the future, speculating, daring to be visionary. But André Brössel, the German-born head of a Barcelona-based start-up called Rawlemon, has given the term a whole other meaning.

His firm has developed futuristic solar collectors — collectors that look very different from the usual installations. They are not flat, right-angled panels, but spheres. The role of the glass balls turns out to be much the same as that of classic collectors: to turn light into electrical current.

Like large lenses, the transparent liquid-filled glass spheres collect rays of light. Depending on the diameter of the sphere, fire point increases up to 20,000 times. Photovoltaic cells and heat-driven mini-generators transform the energy into current.

The light concentration resulting from this principle is so effective that Rawlemon’s collectors don’t only work when the sun is shining, but when it’s cloudy and even at night.

Yes, after sundown, the balls can even gather moonlight and transform it into electrical energy.

[rebelmouse-image 27087810 alt="""" original_size="580x386" expand=1]

With regard to the solar panels presently in use in Germany, Rawlemon technology has two big advantages. For one, it delivers constant, efficient current because sunlight is bundled in the spheres. What’s more, they are designed to pivot so that the photovoltaic modules and thermal generators are always optimally aligned to the sun.

In a mere fourth of a square meter, prototypes are already creating as much current as traditional installations filling a square meter of space. In diffused light, this strength is particularly significant.

View from your window

The second advantage is that the Rawlemon solutions are real “lookers.” They are the top models in solar energy production. The glittering spheres in their elegant casings are a hit visually; and Brössel’s training as an architect and his high aesthetic standards play a key role in their popularity.

[rebelmouse-image 27087811 alt="""" original_size="580x386" expand=1]

But is the technology suitable for mass production?

Since it was founded three years ago, the start-up has made huge strides in getting the product ready for the mass market. "Beta.ey," the first serial product, is due out in September. It’s a hip solar charger equipped with a glass ball about the size of the ones used by fortune tellers, and it uses solar current to charge mobile phones.

The funding for all this is as innovative as the gadgets: Rawlemon, working via the Indiegogo website, uses crowdfunding.

Another application called "Beta.ray" is presently in the prototype stage. Including the mount and glass sphere the device is around two meters high and should provide enough solar energy to charge an electric car. When there is no car charging up, Beta.ray saves the energy in a large battery that acts as buffer.

But both these products are mere steps towards Brössel’s main aim: "I want to develop Rawlemon technology to the point that it can be built into large windows, for example in office buildings." With an efficiency factor of over 50% the elements would change incoming light into a hybrid of current and thermal energy.

"A building equipped like that would create more energy than it used," says Brössel. "Over and above that, three fourths of the sun’s rays would be collected so that the building could be cooled in a natural way, particularly in the summertime."

In four to five years, Rawlemon wants to start serial production of these facade elements. Looking into a glass ball would then replace the view out the window for many office workers.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Society

How Gen Z Is Breaking Europe's Eternal Alcohol Habit

Young people across Europe are drinking less, which is driving a boom in non-alcoholic alternatives, and the emergence of new, more complex markets.

photo of a beer half full on a bar

German beer, half-full?

Katarzyna Skiba

Updated Dec. 6, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.

PARIS — From Irish whisky to French wine to German beer, Europe has long been known for alcohol consumption. Of the top 10 countries for drinking, nine are in the European Union, according to the World Health Organization.

✉️ You can receive our Bon Vivant selection of fresh reads on international culture, food & travel directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

But that may be starting to change, especially among Gen Z Europeans, who are increasingly drinking less or opting out entirely, out of concern for their health or problematic alcohol use. A recent French study found the proportion of 17-year-olds who have never consumed alcohol has multiplied, from less than 5% to nearly 20% over the past two decades.

The alcohol-free trend is propping up new markets for low- or zero-alcoholic beverages, including in one of Europe’s beer capitals: Germany.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest