Yesterday's Realities
Around the world geothermal hot spots have been identified as having the potential to serve the demand for electricity without creating more carbon emissions. In the past, these have been few in number and far away from where the demand has been.

Current geothermal technologies use the earth’s natural heat to drive turbines. These take up to five years to construct, and the moving parts increase maintenance costs.

Today's Realities
In the course of developing a more efficient photovoltaic film, the scientists at Berken Energy discovered a method to repetitively produce a film that can generate electricity from any variety of heat sources without direct sunlight.

 

The above topology chart shows heat at three miles down. Black, yellow and gray show the breadth of areas that can take advantage of Berken's GTV™ technology.

 

The application of this patent-pending, cost-effective thin film technology demonstrates a multitude of advantages over current geothermal generation technologies:

Benefits of GTV™

• Faster deployment times
• A simple and effective design that's less expensive to implement
• Closed loop — no pollution
• Lower temperature requirements
• Minimal acreage
• Production 24 hours a day 7 days a week
• Inexpensive units with low installation costs
• Lower total facility maintenance costs

This same technology has the potential to reclaim waste industrial heat without creating an increase in carbon emissions. Waste steam that is currently being released could be making electricity.

There are many limitations with geothermal technology. Not only is sufficient heat available in very few locations, but most qualified areas (e.g. Western States, Alaska and Hawaii) are already in use of off-limits.

Other limitations include:

• Requires cooling towers with outlet water
• Requires heat in the 200°C range to generate electricity
• Relatively high cost for plant construction at $3M/MW (Source: Geothermal Energy Association)
• Only converts 10-25% of sun light into electricity – Low kW/$$ Investment
• Can only be used during part of the day
• Highly Dependent on Clear Weather
• Not Capable of Providing Power During Peak Demand (4:00-7:00 PM)

The Future — Now
Berken's GeoThermoVoltaic (GTV™) largely eliminates these limitations by providing a robust technology that has several advantages to conventional geothermal. Laboratory testing has shown that the initial power generation begins at 50°C with peak commercial viability output beginning and continuing upwards of 80°C.

This opens up a whole new realm for making geothermal energy the predominant source of electricity in the United States. World potential is unlimited.

• Device captures Earth’s Heat
• Double the Power capture of Existing PV Film
• Expectations of 20x More Power then PV Film
• Requires only 60 degrees Celsius Heat Ranges
• Shallower Well Deployment (< 10,000 feet)
• 24/7 Operation
• Utilizes Existing Heat Exchanger Technology
• Estimated Power Plant Building Cost of $200/kW