Renewable Energy From An Old Concept
When doing the research for a article on new green products, I was unaware of many of the different ways to convert the energy of the sun into electrical power. I have written about solar cell or photovoltaic cell systems, so let's look at another type of solar energy system.
This system is not new; it was originally conceived in 1816 as an industrial rival to the steam engine. It has been largely underutilized for the past century. With the need for renewable energy sources caused by the overuse of the fossil fuels interest has resurged in solar designs, and it is now being designed into many new solar collector systems.
The Stirling engine has many different designs, some more efficient than others. Some designs use the two cylinder Alpha design, some the Beta single cylinder design and some the Gamma design (a variation of the beta for use in multiple cylinder applications). The beta Sterling design has a single chamber with two pistons and uses a highly efficient regenerator gas as the thermal conductor.
The operation of the Stirling engine is not complex, it only requires an external heat source. Some heat sources have been fuel, while some solar designs use a Fernell lens, and the latest source is large parabolic mirrors.
The basic operation of this thermal engine is really quite simple. The engine has two chambers, one hot and one cold. When an external heat source is applied the hot air expands moving a piston and flows to the cold chamber. A flywheel is attached to maintain movement.
The reason the Stirling engine works so well for a solar application is that heat from the sun can easily be concentrated to heat the hot chamber. A parabolic mirror much like that seen with the roof mounted satellite dishes is used to gather and focus the sunlight. With the sunlight focused onto the hot chamber of the engine, the temperature raises and the engine starts running. Connect the output shaft to a generator, and electricity is the product.
The engine and support equipment is contained in a package small enough to be suspended from the end of a metal arm, much like the design of satellite TV systems but on a much larger scale. Some systems are producing 25K watts of power and have been installed and operational for a couple of years.
I will compare the different solar technologies in a later article. For now, I need to lay a foundational understanding of each of the green products used to produce power so a comparison can be made.
Michael
This system is not new; it was originally conceived in 1816 as an industrial rival to the steam engine. It has been largely underutilized for the past century. With the need for renewable energy sources caused by the overuse of the fossil fuels interest has resurged in solar designs, and it is now being designed into many new solar collector systems.
The Stirling engine has many different designs, some more efficient than others. Some designs use the two cylinder Alpha design, some the Beta single cylinder design and some the Gamma design (a variation of the beta for use in multiple cylinder applications). The beta Sterling design has a single chamber with two pistons and uses a highly efficient regenerator gas as the thermal conductor.
The operation of the Stirling engine is not complex, it only requires an external heat source. Some heat sources have been fuel, while some solar designs use a Fernell lens, and the latest source is large parabolic mirrors.
The basic operation of this thermal engine is really quite simple. The engine has two chambers, one hot and one cold. When an external heat source is applied the hot air expands moving a piston and flows to the cold chamber. A flywheel is attached to maintain movement.
The reason the Stirling engine works so well for a solar application is that heat from the sun can easily be concentrated to heat the hot chamber. A parabolic mirror much like that seen with the roof mounted satellite dishes is used to gather and focus the sunlight. With the sunlight focused onto the hot chamber of the engine, the temperature raises and the engine starts running. Connect the output shaft to a generator, and electricity is the product.
The engine and support equipment is contained in a package small enough to be suspended from the end of a metal arm, much like the design of satellite TV systems but on a much larger scale. Some systems are producing 25K watts of power and have been installed and operational for a couple of years.
I will compare the different solar technologies in a later article. For now, I need to lay a foundational understanding of each of the green products used to produce power so a comparison can be made.
Michael
About the Author:
About the author: Michael Edwards loves to write about green products. See more of his stuff at go green
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