Interesting...nice to see an article that actually gives some (but not much) technical info.

Del

You can get all the info for a modest $1,000,000,000 investment.

wow, 1.2billion investment is an attract number.

what advantage is the tube compare to cell plate?

Among the advantages are less heating - since air can flow around and under the tubes, and better alignment - since the curved tube can accept a wider array of sun angles, and cheaper cost - since there is no expensive silicon involved.

Maybe not so new. I was looking to patent a similar addition to the current solar heating vacuum tubes of Schott, Philips etc that would provide both heat and electricity.

On checking for prior art I found a patent doing the same basic thing, although without the control aspects that I was proposing.