Practical Solar, Inc. is a Boston-area manufacturing company dedicated to introducing solar energy products that are truly practical. Practical Solar’s concentrating solar power (CSP) systems use heliostats (computer-controlled mirrors) to reliably meet the heating and cooling needs of commercial buildings and yield a positive return on investment. Practical Solar heliostat systems can also be used for a variety of other applications requiring sunlight or thermal energy. See the technology page for more information and feel free to contact us about orders and project opportunities.

Practical Solar's HE500 Heliostat System uses sun-tracking mirrors to reflect sunlight to a fixed target. The system is installable by hand, and is easily programmed and controlled with software on the customer's computer. A 1-heliostat system can be used very effectively for natural lighting (e.g. reflecting sunlight through a north-facing window or skylight). The customer does not have to choose only 1 target (e.g. window), since a heliostat can be programmed for multiple targets and switch between them as the customer chooses (using the automatic timer function in the software or selecting manually from a list of targets).