Arvada based SkyFuel announces the SkyTrough, a parabolic trough concentrator able to deliver energy at 35% below the costs of commercially available systems. This is an example of another company working with NREL in Golden, CO, to bring a product to market. The two worked with the University of New Mexico to develop the largest trough modeles ever built at 375 feett long and 20 feet high.
The cost savings comes mainly from the use of a low-cost, highly reflective, shatterproof proprieteary silvered-polymer film rather than heavy, expensive and fragile curved mirrors.