First, this guy is funding this project out of his pocket. Why do people always bash someone trying to make a difference. All of you that bash and trash, get up off your butt, take money out of your own pocket and build it better. But great job and thanks GREENPOWERSCIENCE for showing it.
make a difference like putting powerplants out of buisness an millions out a jobs why not just get a job an pay for electricity problem solved:).solar panels are the future not this noisy big stuff.
4 года назад+1
Nicholas this is far more accessible to most people. You are looking through a small hole at the world
not seeing the big picture. Get a job and pay for electricity, sure, until the fossil fuels are gone and you're out of a job anyway. Then you can get a job at the solar plant, which I'm sure will be able to pay it's people handsomely, since it's going to be making money like crazy, y'know, ripping free energy out of thin air. I realize there's no such thing as free energy but you get what I mean. zero fuel cost. that's why this shit won't take off soon. it would cripple most of the economy, he's right, but the economy could then focus on more important things than where it's going to get it's next energy fix. gotta destroy to rebuild i'm afraid. literally what we're experiencing.
As a retired boiler engineer, I agree with the statement, "Insulate the pipes" because the steam lines rapidly loose heat. It would save on water and you could plumb the used steam back into the system to help preheat the make up water. Congrats Joe on a Great Job !
I helped build one of these 30 years ago when I worked for Mother Earth News at their Eco Village in NC. I designed the mechanics and electronics that tacked the sun. It was so sensitive it would track the moon a few times a month. We used a solar cell, a 12V battery and 12V motor for horizon tracking and old car window motors for azimuth adjusting. It was designed to be a solar still that was used to make the alcohol for our alternative fuel vehicles.
Hi Dennis and Denise, I don't see where to rate your excellent video. I have watched your videos for about 6 years. Dennis, you are so lucky to have a supportive wife who is really sharp a physics and works with you. My wife has no interest. You are an admirable couple many would do well to model their relationships after. Keep up the great work and God bless you.
I suggested a 3KW generator when he started this project but he plans on adding to the mirror array. That is one of the concepts behind his project. Expandability, he wanted to go big and work to power as needed. With that said, his results were far more than I expected. The advancements he made from his first and second prototype is amazing. Especially when the budget he is working on is factored in. I am hoping he gets a small grant or something to see where he can take it. Smart guy!
So many miss the point here, this is the execution of a concept. Overlook the rough details and see some promise for the future. Dolores is so right about Denise, wow (lucky guy;-))
Just a suggestion from a fellow engineer maybe if you took your output lines coming off your steam engine and piped it into a holding tank then you could do a return line to your central heating unit and use the laws of thermal syphon and reuse alot of the heat over again and in turn be more efficient oh and before I forget great idea and great video
I had an idea about this...the exaust steam is run trough a condenser and converted back to water then pumped back to the generator...probly could be a sealed system and the pup runs of the engine
Great development setup (I'm writing in 2018, this video is pretty old by now). This is what I have wanted to do (tracked solar -> steam -> engine -> electricity) for some time, and this system has some good ideas. And some not-so-good, from which we also learn. I'd be looking at a much smaller power output (2KVA) so that reduces the problems also. Thanks for the video. Some thoughts (mostly about Efficiency, which is THE KEYWORD for this stuff) 1) Use bigger mirrors, and reduce/remove the gaps. About 20% of the structural area of his array is unused. Bigger mirrors (double would do) reduce the complexity and weight of the structure. Make the mirror brackets much lighter (rods, not plates). 2) The target (in this case, the boiler) needs to be fully closed within an insulated housing (6 inches of fibreglass mat, for example), open only toward the mirror array. Adding a tapering, mirrored tube to the outside of this opening (mylar sheet such as Space Blanket) will add light capture, with minimal weight. 3) Steam recovery - saves a lot of wasted heat/power. Even just used as pre-heat for the cold input water.
I'd say this video was so ahead of its time, but these concepts have been actualized since at least the 70s! But I have become so intrigued by these types of machines recently, I would like to investigate smaller, efficient, modular boilers using fresnel lens for easy aiming and focusing. Say, an array of four fresnel lens each heating a small boiler... can easily expand by adding more fresnel boilers.
@@rickfrogm825 Yes, the key to the future with this concept is smaller concise fresnel type of lenses, however, the key to efficiency is NOT the lens, but rather the heat sink (boiler) this is the secret they talk about. If you're going to use fresnel lems' you have to develop a boiler that resembles a Gatling gun. 9 Chambers of water with psi regulated steam release valve. For storage, use capacitors in a Cascade, far better than batteries. To be more precise, use capacitors banks from as low as 1kw to megawatts if you feel the need. It's like having a radio amplifier in your car; they can squeeze every last morsel of energy. Possibly look into amplodines. Hope this helps. The steam side was perfected by going closed loop and recapturing the spent steam.. Thanks for watching, I haven't watched it in years myself, but I liked your comment so I decided to tell you what I learned, hope it helps you Joe.
This Solar Boiler was featured in the Mother Earth News back in 1979 or 80. Using 1'x1' mirrors and frame work of steal. A close friend of mine and I found a $1.00 electronic board at the army surplus store that we used to track the sun on a 3 min. time line. At the end of the day the rack would hit a limit switch that would return it the beginning again for the next day tracking. We used a steel drum and a high bay light reflector for the tank to gather all the heat on all sides of the tank as possible. Check with Mother Earth News and like I said back in the late 70's you should fined the solar boiler listed. At that time I was living in Georgetown Colorado where it would work good for about three to five hours a day due to the mountains east and west of us. Now in Alaska and we in summer get 360 dog. Of sunlight. Still working on that but in winter about 4 hours is all we get in Willow, Alaska. Kent
@upinarms79 Hey man, Thanks for commenting on my prototype that Greenpowerscience was nice enough to showcase. To answer your question about the water; it is NOW closed-loop, meaning the steam is recaptured, then run through a condenser cooling it down back to water to be pumped back into the boiler with a boiler feed pump all to be reused again. It ups the efficiency tremendously because the water is now very hot before it goes back into the boiler.
Hello, An excellant topic to explore . I first saw an arrangement almost exactly like this in the Mother Earth News, I think about 1979. I have all the old issues and will start building this and many other devices this summer. The mirror array was 10'x10' and had welded conduit with 1/4 rod and lite gauge sheet metal holding the mirror tiles. A G.M. window motor with radio shack sensors tracked the sun while focusing on a steel coil that had refractory fiber insulation on the back side. The groundwater @54 degrees was superheated to 240 degrees which ran a steam engine that turned the power generator. It also provided hot water for the house and greenhouse. I hope to use the water to heat the concrete slabs in my buildings and returning the water back into the ground to replenish the aquifer. Great idea to bring this back for construction. Respectfully, Charles Hugh Bryan
Thanks for posting this video. Joe has done a remarkable job, considering, and should get some help to make kits or start a company to provide turn-key units with varying capacities. It's easy to point out limitations and ways he could improve it, but he has DONE IT! Go Joe!
The heat dissapates just the same weather the stem goes to atmo or exchanges it to it in a condensor. You would really only need it if you didn't have a water supply or your water supply had impurities that would harm the system.
I think that if he invested in a proboloic mirior he wouldn't have to adjust the miriors. all he needs is a xy axes adjuster to follow the sun. Joe inspires manny of us inovators. So Thankyou!
Not sure,Tesla Turbines require some very precise machining to pass the efficiency of a piston engine. While it is easy to make one that runs at very high RPMs (lots of YT videos) the test with a load is where things get tricky.
Nice test rig, very impressive for what it is and the work put into it. 1) Boiler certified? Probably not and potentially explosive. 2) Needs a battery bank or other energy storage system to capture all the electrical energy produced during peak generation. 3) Needs control systems on the aiming of the mirrors and a lot of other details to make it into a practical system.
I designed a better version of this on paper in 2011, and showed it to some of the people in India and U.A.E (Dubai) but no one came forward for financing my project, the crap I got from those people (even a chemical engineer from Indian Institute of Technology), was that the steam would not develop in the container by the concentrated sunlight, I pity on those guys, seriously.
This is not a 12kwh generator, no wheres close. Solar thermal to electric is EXTREEMLY ineffecient, no matter how good your design is. 143ft^2 * 75-120W/ft^2 * 85% = 9-12kW reflected energy. But unless your running really high pressure, and using a turbine, you will only get between 5-20% to convert into electricity. Yes this looks cool, but on paper, its a waste. This thing is prob only really generating 1000-2000w.
Clearly the steam does develop. PEople all over the planet are already using solar steam generators to run steam-engine driven water pumps and dynamos in remote locations. Some of the generators look like flourescant office light housings. They are crap. The engines are often weed whackers with nails in them. Crap. But it works.
Brent Taylor We have been cloaked in clouds for three months = no new solar videos. So sick of rain. I wish it on CA. Actually, this rain would wash them away so just a bit of it.
Hi Dennis and Denise, I'm writing you here because I ran into something I think is awesome in VAWT like the ones you have built out of PVC splits and the plexiglass slat one. This one uses 8" diameter PVC schedule 40 cut in lengths a foot long on an angle. A layer of such pieces is anchored to a plywood disk about 4 feet in diameter. They are angled about 22 degrees from horizontal axes so they form buckets. Several layers are sandwiched between 1/4" thickness disks 4 feet in diameter. The one being discussed hasn't been built by anyone to my knowledge. I am too old to build it as are my retired buddies who were telling me about it. The reason it came up is that it is much easier to cut lengths off of a longer piece of PVC than split it. Just a suggestion if you get froggy. I would love to build it but am just not up to it anymore. I am an idea man these days. LOL Love you guys. I think this is very easy construction for a VAWT and should be relatively cheap. Diameter was chosen because you can get two 4 foot disks out of a sheet of plywood. CDX should be good enough because it self strengthens as it is screwed and glues together. A pole piece of pipe is used as an axle. Pipe flanges are used on top and bottom. A flange ball bearing is used top and bottom to anchor it to the drive shaft. This should be omni directional like Sinovious type. If you put a cog belt on it to a Fisher Paykel washing machine motor converted to a 3 phase alternator, you should have a fairly powerful wind turbine. John Mahler. (keep up the great work)
the cool thing about his system is that "hot" is the only resource he needs. he could be burning junk mail for fuel all night or if it got a little cloudy. burning low grade biofuel will also help reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere because the plants you burn will have to take up more carbon than you can harvest for fuel, so it becomes a net carbon negative process.
There is nothing wrong with carbon in the atmosphere or anywhere else. We are a carbon-based life form and life on this planet would cease w/o carbon. You've been lied to by creeps with an agenda.
@@jeffshackleford3152 The total wattages of the breakers is immaterial. He needs the generator to produce 12 KW on demand. One addition needed is a speed regulator to keep the generator output constant under varying loads - see old steam engines for how they work.
wow the best homebrew power generator i have seen to date!! i know mechanics and electronics and understand the two types analog and digital im not easily impressed but this is WINNER!! RIGHT ON!!!
water...without watching the burn off you'd be refilling it all day long. How about storing the power in batteries and just run the steam engine to recharge?
The problem is it can't generate 12kW. The 143 1 square foot mirrors reflect a maximum of about 143ft^2 * 74W/ft^2 * 85% = 9kW reflected. Assuming the steam generator, engine, and electric generator are 10% efficient: 9kW * 10% = 900W of electric. 900W is the best it can do. Sorry, not 12kW. redrok
That squared function in the second term is wrong. Also that guy Carnot messed up the efficiency calculation. It's a function of the max steam temperature (abs) / ambient (abs) 10 % is optimistic.
I agree with your observations. But that's about right for a once through steam system. Also his boiler is leaking and he's not super heating his steam. Then he has to boil fresh water for every batch since he does not condense or economize. But what's to say he's done? This is the first guy I've seen to go all the way. I'd say he's putting ~15 KW thermal in and getting about 10% out electrical. All in all hats off and keep up the good work.
The boilers are usually dark opaque so no light reaches the water, other clear boilers us a dark object to collect and transfer the heat. Colored water would only be useful in a clear glass jar.
OK, nice design but I think you should have a battery pack somewhere to store energy and use it instead of straight off the generator. Something happens, you shut down, no power. Also, I think you should modify your tank to take in water as it needs it to keep the take from popping a seam. My 2 cents to think about.
... ADDENDUM; well insulated tubing connected to higher elevation radiator '' heat exchanger'' part of a reservoir (tank) could return the water back into the system, if properly timed, could be mechanically operated/or better modification to make it automated, my suggestion!
The Fresnel Lenses in front of the mirror would diffuse the light as the optimal focal point would be short on a 12x12 Fresnel Lens. Also, since Fresnel Lenses concentrate sunlight vs amplify it, the filtering of an additional layer (the lens) would reduce the reflection of the mirror. The Fresnel Lenses work best alone with each lens focused to an individual target.
@Sam Powell Telling a beautiful woman she's beautiful is sexist? If someone said Dan was beautiful would that be sexist as well? He is by the way. We're sexual human beings dude, deal with it, fuck...
Brent Clouda no point of playing the white night, you don't need to come to her defense, she's already married to a guy who obviously makes plenty of money. I swear to God... You sjw's... SMH
its depressing to see any "dislikes" at all on these vids. Sure they are a bit excited by the prospect of renewable energy, but shouldn't we all be? This guy's ahead of his time and maybe not fully appreciated by our generation of petroleum-addicts.
It depends on the quality. For larger projects, Fresnel Lenses and true Parabolic Mirrors are too expensive to make. So mirror arrays like this one do the job. If you were 1:7 scale of this, our normal videos, the power of a Fresnel Lens and Parabolic Mirror are the same depending on optics, acrylic, and mirrored surfaces.
Nice job. An old C-band satellite dish is much lighter and not too hard to find. Most people who still have one standing will be happy to let you haul it off for them. The solar input of a 10 foot dish is close to 8Kw, and a 12 footer around 11Kw. Keep the steam line heavily insulated and as short as possible. Paint the receiver with BBQ paint and make it big. It is better to have 2 square feet at 400° than 0.5 square feet at 1000°. Use aluminum for better heat transfer.
Quite impressive stuff. Putting aside the technical aspects, projects like these can electrify the remote villages of developing countries. unlike solar tower, these small systems cannot run after sunset. If only systems for storing heat for night are made available, I strongly believe parabolic reflector based systems will be the best stand-alone power generators for remote areas.
I really like you guys. I have many great solutions to our problems and one uses the solar furnace concept big time. I can't talk about this stuff with most people, they just have no head for it. You two are right on top of it though. Heliostatics is the number 1 catagory for power generation imo. I have great concepts in other forms of electricity generation, but the sun is a no brainer. Oil is for plastics and lubricants and stuff. Electricity all way baby!
I live in northern NY and there are a couple dozen or more commercial wind mills in area. Yes there is a sound, but it is soft and inaudible 200 feet away. Yes it can be intermittent. But not in the way most people think. Choose the right location and you will be generating power 80 to 95% of the time. For home power that is not a problem. Batteries can easily hold enough power for the 'lean' times. As for commercial, Every hour of windpower is one less hour of wasting resources.
This is a good Start, just need to add and oil separator, I would also go from a simple to a compound cylinder setup. Maybe even look at using some of the solar energy on a super heater, which will greatly improve the power out. I am also looking at different energy sources what will use solar panels feeding a battery bank, with a back up wood fired steam plant on low solar / cold cloudy winter days.
That's a pretty awesome setup. The only problem might be how to stow the system when it gets windy, and also presumably the mirrors will need to track the sun across the sky.
nice setup ! a litle bit bulky but fonctionnal , you could add a return cycle for the vapor exhaust to a heat exchanger to condensate in water and have a continious cycle without having to add water , you could also add some peltier thermo-electric plate on hot part and generate more power due to differential of temperature between both side ( they are very small and affordable a pack of 10 piece of 2inch square 50-70 watt each cost about 10$ on ebay ) i assume you have a sun tracking system to optimize the exposure . overall nice "mac giver style " free energy generator to run your homestead ! great to see people empower themselves and share knowledge.
Hmm. That heat would have to go somewhere to get the water back. Fans would use energy but a stream would do it... But then it would negate the need for water. Condensors would be amazing if you needed to save water, or your system couldn't healthfully run on the raw water available.
If you distilled the steam you could make distilled water , which us electric car people pay 50 cents a gallon for . Might make more off the water than the electricty
We want to do this, as an alternative to solar panels! Was thinking of using rocks to store the heat, so can power the generator during the night or when it’s cloudy or raining. I forgot to factor in how noisy it is, though! (So not something you can do if you have neighbors or just want peace and quiet….)
Piss off.....the grid usage relies on EVERYONE using it and getting billed accordingly to share the cost of production and running it......the less that use it the more expensive it will get.
as a kid, back in the 60's, I had these cards with images of steam locomotives, added to a chocolate bar or something. One of the cards I had kept for a long time, was that of one of the most advanced steam engines, designed at the end of the steam era. It recycled steam, no plume came out and it had injectors, about the place where car engines have there plugs, in order to accelerate the condensation. A genial engine with highest possible output! I never read anything about it eversince ...
Uncannily similar to my solarfy rendering...(at 10 seconds). Except the rendering is in thin air and uses CPV instead of a steam or Stirling engine. Nice to see someone REALLY doing it! Solar needs an "oil like" company that does it all "under one roof" in order to compete with coming shale oil and tar sands. We are just about at peak "easy oil" already... However, THIS IS AWESOME! I didn't know that 143 suns could boil water and cut wood!
@Terascon when you focus light on a photoV cell the heat deteriorates the cell quickly. 3M has a reflective coating that allows the heat portion to not be reflected. it did increase the output about 20-30% with solar tracking algorithm.
In the video they talk about some special modifications to the mirror array. I do know that if a person uses "regular mirror" or second surface mirrors that you loose a tiny bit if efficiency due to the light being bounced THROUGH the glass 2 times and also the type and color of the glass used in the mirrors. What would work better is first surface mirror like the big companies use. Good luck finding that type of mirrored glass. Also the elements tend to remove the coating unless they are coated
If he tried to reclaim 100% of the water, yes. But 60% or less could be done with a very minimal amount of loss if any. That is actually part of his future goals.
I remember reading a great "how to" article written up in an old issue of the Mother Earth News from the late 70's of a system a lot like this one. It was smaller (I think 5hp), but it had an interesting tracking system. Maybe someone could find the article online? It had great details on how to make it. I would be a little worried the thing would explode if something got clogged, but other than that I think its a great idea. Thanks for posting it! Love your vids....
OK. Trying to be positive here. (but also REAL). Joe is to be commended for his efforts and is off to a great start. I'm not trying to be critical, but rather offer constructive criticism (which is hard 500 characters at a time) Take my word for it that I *do* know a bit about steam and boilers, but have taken this verbal repartee between myself and Joe offline, as I think it's more efficient that way. Keep up the good discussions, all.
It appears you're tracking the sun manually. I'd use dual linear actuators / axis. They'll do up to 1500 lbs per actuator and you can get a 48" stroke. It's very low duty cycle. Table look up with a programmed offset would be the best way to go with coding the controller.. I had a couple of small HCPV (high concentration PV) arrays . Good size 10-12kW is a very sustainable small ranch / farm array. If you get it tracking you'll need a wind stow circuit.. Good job keep up the good work!!
the begginings? This guys powers all the energy he needs for his household on any sunny day and with a reserviour can store as much as he needs for winter.. sometimes providing for yourself is the best way to free the world. people learn by example.
So far so good! Develope you scavging system to take the steam blow off to another chamber (condenser) to provide a continous loope to the boiler to reuse the water over and over.
Great video; something you might want to add to the generator is a return exhaust line funneling the spent steam back into the main water container which would eliminate or lease reduce the amount of times you had to refill the water container and also speed up the water boiling process by keeping the water at a temperature closer to its boiling point!! But good job nonetheless!!
I'm attempting to design a Fresnel multi-lense unit into a container home design I have on the drawing board along with a wind generator due to the number of wind days we have here also. All my/the main goal is to achieve water into steam which is @ 100c-212f and for an average home 10kw or better is ok. I know you are keeping some things "quiet" as anything from the focal point on is the secret and the temps achieved are one of those and I can't wait for those numbers! now to keep watching!
Interesting idea. Also could be used to heat other things besides water for electrical generation. Things that retain heat for when the sun goes down. Things that might give you more then 400 psi. Everybody has to start somewhere. Even if it seems like your reinventing the wheel.
Brilliant ! Well done, and thanks for spreading the knowledge that it can be done. And would somebody please remove the extremely offensive post from polybun.
Yet this can be made quieter, and a sun tacker can be added. My Aunt and Uncle live totally off the grid and have for many years using primarily solar and some wind. Batteries charged during the day provide power for night and cloudy days. This system allows all the power needs of the home including Air conditioning to run all day and throughout the night.
The noise can be EASILLY be solved by putting the mechanical parts inside a shack, leaving only the mirror outside. To increase the power, you can also use magnifying glasses combined...
Dan? No body said anything about that guys ability to make a steam engine as quiet as PV cells. But a steam engine can be made very quiet and iv heard extremely quiet steam engines first hand. In the video it is said it is a work in progress. This is basically a miniature version of what is already used in huge mirror arrays around the world. It works and on a small scale can be perfected.
An inspirational video! In countries near or within the tropics it's a no brainer. Why spend money on solar PV when the efficiency of energy conversion per square area from solar heat to steam is so much higher? Storing energy in batteries or raising water to a height to give hydro power could complete an off grid system. Space to do it could be an issue, but if we're serious about climate change this is a route to go.
Good concept. I can see a few practical problems...clean water is one problem...boilers vented to atmosphere must have pretty clean water and lots of it. I would investigate the practicality of using a condenser with purified water in a closed system....recovering heat being vented to atmosphere as shown would also improve the efficiency allowing for more hp output for the same solar heat collection apparatus.
@Nxcng This video was a very good start for the author's point of view. I am just thinking about HOW to recover as much of the heat from the sunlight as possible and either use it or store it somehow. You do have to figure in your efficiencies and also losses . That is why I intend on using solar PV panels with storage batteries for the electrical part of it to run the necessary pumps and controls. Utilizing both types of solar just makes more sense and also makes it more green. Good luck 2 all
16 M2 is roughly 172 FOOT2. The sun gives off about 100watts of Energy per square foot (PURE energy before conversion). I get your doubt, so I crunched some numbers to see :) But yeah he needs full speed at the GENNY for full power. It looks like there is gearing at the end of the drive shaft before the GENNY. But Even when the steam engine was running fast the speed was going up and down. It's an amazing project either way :)
100 square feet is about 9.3 square meters. At about 1000 watts per square meter and 50% efficiency such a mirror sytstem could produce about 30 kilowatt hours of electricity a day which is the amount of electricity used in a day by the average residenrial customer.
+John Smith What happend if the sun is cover?Can be improuved.With a heat exchanger,and a vacuum sistem.watter steam produce vacuum if destilled .First steam engine was actualy atmospher engines
great! it's a big help for people who lives in place where there is no electricity ..i wish upon my retirement to live in place without power,where I can build my own power supply..
Hi One way to make the system more efficient is to add a recovery system . This is done by collecting the Steam from the pistons and with a pump and a one way valve resent back to the solar tank. Carlos
Did you though about closed circuit of water? In that case, you need to add an compressor and condenser. Moreover, you could add regenerator. It won't loose any water and you can gain higher power due to higher efficiency.
Great project Thank you Joe !! Is there a lot of water consumption ? I am guessing a close steam circuit would be expensive to make.. Thanks again for the tech !!
That's cool. Agreed that he's probably not actually producing a whole 12 kW of power there. But this is an amateur enthusiast, not a "big energy" million-dollar project. Kudos for proof-of-concept. Wonder how big you could make a lightweight parabolic dish?
Also, you have to take into account the efficiency of the steam engine. So even with a good evacuated tube collector setup.... you won't achieve anywhere near the electrical output that you do have in thermal output. To automate it you'd need a water dosing pump that adds the exact amount to turn into steam with temp sensor on output. Hotter temp = more input water, etc. The stirling engine is a better bet but no affordable units out there yet.
yes you can , dont listen to people that hold you back . and that was a very good question or point to make ... Lenses work with Source , angle of Lens , distance to Focus Point .. Your Focus Point can be reflected as long as it doesn't melt while reflecting it ... after knowing that , u should know spheres , and how they can magnify and bend light.. Crystal Balls , water spheres ect .. because a 3d crystal ball can refocus light a lens would melt trying to do ... then there are prism's
First, this guy is funding this project out of his pocket. Why do people always bash someone trying to make a difference. All of you that bash and trash, get up off your butt, take money out of your own pocket and build it better. But great job and thanks GREENPOWERSCIENCE for showing it.
Vernon Gardner ق
Because he didn't invent it.
make a difference like putting powerplants out of buisness an millions out a jobs why not just get a job an pay for electricity problem solved:).solar panels are the future not this noisy big stuff.
Nicholas this is far more accessible to most people.
You are looking through a small hole at the world
not seeing the big picture. Get a job and pay for electricity, sure, until the fossil fuels are gone and you're out of a job anyway. Then you can get a job at the solar plant, which I'm sure will be able to pay it's people handsomely, since it's going to be making money like crazy, y'know, ripping free energy out of thin air. I realize there's no such thing as free energy but you get what I mean. zero fuel cost. that's why this shit won't take off soon. it would cripple most of the economy, he's right, but the economy could then focus on more important things than where it's going to get it's next energy fix. gotta destroy to rebuild i'm afraid. literally what we're experiencing.
As a retired boiler engineer, I agree with the statement, "Insulate the pipes" because the steam lines rapidly loose heat. It would save on water and you could plumb the used steam back into the system to help preheat the make up water. Congrats Joe on a Great Job !
I helped build one of these 30 years ago when I worked for Mother Earth News at their Eco Village in NC. I designed the mechanics and electronics that tacked the sun. It was so sensitive it would track the moon a few times a month. We used a solar cell, a 12V battery and 12V motor for horizon tracking and old car window motors for azimuth adjusting. It was designed to be a solar still that was used to make the alcohol for our alternative fuel vehicles.
Impressive.
I tried to email you but it says your account does not exist.
Weird...try this. bill.branch@nau.edu
Still no luck to either address. I tried on another computed but not sure of the result yet.
MrTHEORIGINALICEMAN I actually liked the freon solar tracker. What ever happened to that idea?
Hi Dennis and Denise, I don't see where to rate your excellent video. I have watched your videos for about 6 years. Dennis, you are so lucky to have a supportive wife who is really sharp a physics and works with you. My wife has no interest. You are an admirable couple many would do well to model their relationships after. Keep up the great work and God bless you.
I suggested a 3KW generator when he started this project but he plans on adding to the mirror array. That is one of the concepts behind his project. Expandability, he wanted to go big and work to power as needed.
With that said, his results were far more than I expected. The advancements he made from his first and second prototype is amazing. Especially when the budget he is working on is factored in. I am hoping he gets a small grant or something to see where he can take it. Smart guy!
So many miss the point here, this is the execution of a concept. Overlook the rough details and see some promise for the future.
Dolores is so right about Denise, wow (lucky guy;-))
Just a suggestion from a fellow engineer maybe if you took your output lines coming off your steam engine and piped it into a holding tank then you could do a return line to your central heating unit and use the laws of thermal syphon and reuse alot of the heat over again and in turn be more efficient oh and before I forget great idea and great video
I had an idea about this...the exaust steam is run trough a condenser and converted back to water then pumped back to the generator...probly could be a sealed system and the pup runs of the engine
Great development setup (I'm writing in 2018, this video is pretty old by now). This is what I have wanted to do (tracked solar -> steam -> engine -> electricity) for some time, and this system has some good ideas. And some not-so-good, from which we also learn. I'd be looking at a much smaller power output (2KVA) so that reduces the problems also. Thanks for the video.
Some thoughts (mostly about Efficiency, which is THE KEYWORD for this stuff)
1) Use bigger mirrors, and reduce/remove the gaps. About 20% of the structural area of his array is unused. Bigger mirrors (double would do) reduce the complexity and weight of the structure. Make the mirror brackets much lighter (rods, not plates).
2) The target (in this case, the boiler) needs to be fully closed within an insulated housing (6 inches of fibreglass mat, for example), open only toward the mirror array. Adding a tapering, mirrored tube to the outside of this opening (mylar sheet such as Space Blanket) will add light capture, with minimal weight.
3) Steam recovery - saves a lot of wasted heat/power. Even just used as pre-heat for the cold input water.
those are some good points!!
what is the most EFFICIENT way to turn heat into electricity?
I'd say this video was so ahead of its time, but these concepts have been actualized since at least the 70s! But I have become so intrigued by these types of machines recently, I would like to investigate smaller, efficient, modular boilers using fresnel lens for easy aiming and focusing. Say, an array of four fresnel lens each heating a small boiler... can easily expand by adding more fresnel boilers.
@@rickfrogm825 Yes, the key to the future with this concept is smaller concise fresnel type of lenses, however, the key to efficiency is NOT the lens, but rather the heat sink (boiler) this is the secret they talk about. If you're going to use fresnel lems' you have to develop a boiler that resembles a Gatling gun.
9 Chambers of water with psi regulated steam release valve.
For storage, use capacitors in a Cascade, far better than batteries. To be more precise, use capacitors banks from as low as 1kw to megawatts if you feel the need. It's like having a radio amplifier in your car; they can squeeze every last morsel of energy. Possibly look into amplodines. Hope this helps.
The steam side was perfected by going closed loop and recapturing the spent steam..
Thanks for watching, I haven't watched it in years myself, but I liked your comment so I decided to tell you what I learned, hope it helps you
Joe.
This Solar Boiler was featured in the Mother Earth News back in 1979 or 80. Using 1'x1' mirrors and frame work of steal. A close friend of mine and I found a $1.00 electronic board at the army surplus store that we used to track the sun on a 3 min. time line. At the end of the day the rack would hit a limit switch that would return it the beginning again for the next day tracking. We used a steel drum and a high bay light reflector for the tank to gather all the heat on all sides of the tank as possible. Check with Mother Earth News and like I said back in the late 70's you should fined the solar boiler listed. At that time I was living in Georgetown Colorado where it would work good for about three to five hours a day due to the mountains east and west of us. Now in Alaska and we in summer get 360 dog. Of sunlight. Still working on that but in winter about 4 hours is all we get in Willow, Alaska.
Kent
check the first comment, that guy worked on that project
@upinarms79 Hey man,
Thanks for commenting on my prototype that Greenpowerscience was nice enough to showcase. To answer your question about the water; it is NOW closed-loop, meaning the steam is recaptured, then run through a condenser cooling it down back to water to be pumped back into the boiler with a boiler feed pump all to be reused again. It ups the efficiency tremendously because the water is now very hot before it goes back into the boiler.
It is incredible how much power you can get in a relative small volume.Great realization go ahed!!!
Hello,
An excellant topic to explore .
I first saw an arrangement almost exactly like this in the Mother Earth News, I think about 1979. I have all the old issues and will start building this and many other devices this summer.
The mirror array was 10'x10' and had welded conduit with 1/4 rod and lite gauge sheet metal holding the mirror tiles. A G.M. window motor with radio shack sensors tracked the sun while focusing on a steel coil that had refractory fiber insulation on the back side. The groundwater @54 degrees was superheated to 240 degrees which ran a steam engine that turned the power generator. It also provided hot water for the house and greenhouse. I hope to use the water to heat the concrete slabs in my buildings and returning the water back into the ground to replenish the aquifer.
Great idea to bring this back for construction.
Respectfully,
Charles Hugh Bryan
There are commercially available "Heliostats" some use timers and others use light sensors. They usually adjust every 90 seconds.
Thanks for posting this video. Joe has done a remarkable job, considering, and should get some help to make kits or start a company to provide turn-key units with varying capacities. It's easy to point out limitations and ways he could improve it, but he has DONE IT! Go Joe!
Good set up, in order to really make it efficient, you should add a condenser to recapture the water and recycle it.
The heat dissapates just the same weather the stem goes to atmo or exchanges it to it in a condensor. You would really only need it if you didn't have a water supply or your water supply had impurities that would harm the system.
I think that if he invested in a proboloic mirior he wouldn't have to adjust the miriors. all he needs is a xy axes adjuster to follow the sun.
Joe inspires manny of us inovators. So Thankyou!
Not sure,Tesla Turbines require some very precise machining to pass the efficiency of a piston engine. While it is easy to make one that runs at very high RPMs (lots of YT videos) the test with a load is where things get tricky.
Nice Work! A great way to harness the free energy that we get from the sun on a daily basis!
Great for an off grid small community.
Only if your in a hot climate unlike in this country
in any country where the sun shines, you can make boiling water from the sun with enough concentration, it will take more effort but it will happen
Nice test rig, very impressive for what it is and the work put into it.
1) Boiler certified? Probably not and potentially explosive. 2) Needs a battery bank or other energy storage system to capture all the electrical energy produced during peak generation. 3) Needs control systems on the aiming of the mirrors and a lot of other details to make it into a practical system.
I designed a better version of this on paper in 2011, and showed it to some of the people in India and U.A.E (Dubai) but no one came forward for financing my project, the crap I got from those people (even a chemical engineer from Indian Institute of Technology), was that the steam would not develop in the container by the concentrated sunlight, I pity on those guys, seriously.
This is not a 12kwh generator, no wheres close. Solar thermal to electric is EXTREEMLY ineffecient, no matter how good your design is.
143ft^2 * 75-120W/ft^2 * 85% = 9-12kW reflected energy. But unless your running really high pressure, and using a turbine, you will only get between 5-20% to convert into electricity.
Yes this looks cool, but on paper, its a waste. This thing is prob only really generating 1000-2000w.
Michael G
But still totally emission free, and also totally free once you've purchased the equipment!
Michael G well I never mentioned that my design could do 12 kwh, my design was more efficient than this one.
Viky Thakur make your design open source, someone might do it
Clearly the steam does develop. PEople all over the planet are already using solar steam generators to run steam-engine driven water pumps and dynamos in remote locations. Some of the generators look like flourescant office light housings. They are crap. The engines are often weed whackers with nails in them. Crap. But it works.
That's wonderful!
So cool to see! Thanks for sharing 👍..I was just sitting thinking about this sort of thing, and here you are doing it! Wonderful job
It's all fun & games until the clouds come in.
Brent Taylor We have been cloaked in clouds for three months = no new solar videos. So sick of rain. I wish it on CA. Actually, this rain would wash them away so just a bit of it.
+GREENPOWERSCIENCE I'm in the south, you can have some of our sunshine :)
Steam Wallet card codes I got from this site!!
I hope this help
*SteamGiftCodes .c om*.
Guys I just found a good website which gives you free_xbox_live_gold_c0des plus.google.com/105285816099913202128/posts/6ttFh9kBEqK
+Esteban Langdon Fuck you.
Hi Dennis and Denise,
I'm writing you here because I ran into something I think is awesome in VAWT like the ones you have built out of PVC splits and the plexiglass slat one. This one uses 8" diameter PVC schedule 40 cut in lengths a foot long on an angle. A layer of such pieces is anchored to a plywood disk about 4 feet in diameter. They are angled about 22 degrees from horizontal axes so they form buckets. Several layers are sandwiched between 1/4" thickness disks 4 feet in diameter. The one being discussed hasn't been built by anyone to my knowledge. I am too old to build it as are my retired buddies who were telling me about it. The reason it came up is that it is much easier to cut lengths off of a longer piece of PVC than split it. Just a suggestion if you get froggy. I would love to build it but am just not up to it anymore. I am an idea man these days. LOL Love you guys. I think this is very easy construction for a VAWT and should be relatively cheap. Diameter was chosen because you can get two 4 foot disks out of a sheet of plywood. CDX should be good enough because it self strengthens as it is screwed and glues together. A pole piece of pipe is used as an axle. Pipe flanges are used on top and bottom. A flange ball bearing is used top and bottom to anchor it to the drive shaft. This should be omni directional like Sinovious type. If you put a cog belt on it to a Fisher Paykel washing machine motor converted to a 3 phase alternator, you should have a fairly powerful wind turbine.
John Mahler. (keep up the great work)
the cool thing about his system is that "hot" is the only resource he needs.
he could be burning junk mail for fuel all night or if it got a little cloudy.
burning low grade biofuel will also help reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere because the plants you burn will have to take up more carbon than you can harvest for fuel, so it becomes a net carbon negative process.
There is nothing wrong with carbon in the atmosphere or anywhere else. We are a carbon-based life form and life on this planet would cease w/o carbon. You've been lied to by creeps with an agenda.
David Rice
Are you talking to anyone in particular?
HAHA!
Even with the steam losses it's turning that generator! CPS is looking better all the time - Thank you for your science!
It's not 12 kw, maybe 1 or 2 kw.
2-5 max solar
generator 12?
His breaker box is rated at 12kw... 240V @ 50A
@@jeffshackleford3152 The total wattages of the breakers is immaterial. He needs the generator to produce 12 KW on demand.
One addition needed is a speed regulator to keep the generator output constant under varying loads - see old steam engines for how they work.
wow the best homebrew power generator i have seen to date!! i know mechanics and electronics and understand the two types analog and digital im not easily impressed but this is WINNER!! RIGHT ON!!!
water...without watching the burn off you'd be refilling it all day long. How about storing the power in batteries and just run the steam engine to recharge?
Real Free codes for Steam Wallet you can find here!
I hope this help
*SteamCodeGenerator .c om*
batteries are an expensive pain
Pretty awesome project, and it works very well from the video. This type of project has a real future. Keep up the great work.
i would prefer this to nuclear and coal power
someone fund this please
go for it !
We have a giant one in Australia. It super heats salt so it can run into the night 2
why aren't we funding this
Thanks... you guys are crazy, wonderful people! I love your style and your energy...
The problem is it can't generate 12kW.
The 143 1 square foot mirrors reflect a maximum of about
143ft^2 * 74W/ft^2 * 85% = 9kW reflected.
Assuming the steam generator, engine, and electric generator are 10% efficient:
9kW * 10% = 900W of electric.
900W is the best it can do. Sorry, not 12kW.
redrok
***** 3 kw agreed, less, dinamic source (the sun is moving), bad angles of attack of mirrors = 1/3 of that power = so far 1 kw
yes
you should watch a few video's that Dan ( green power science ) has on parabolic mirrors. I think a few of these would help this project.
That squared function in the second term is wrong. Also that guy Carnot messed up the efficiency calculation. It's a function of the max steam temperature (abs) / ambient (abs) 10 % is optimistic.
should be easy enough to meter the generator outfeed of power and know with exactitude ...
I agree with your observations. But that's about right for a once through steam system. Also his boiler is leaking and he's not super heating his steam. Then he has to boil fresh water for every batch since he does not condense or economize. But what's to say he's done? This is the first guy I've seen to go all the way. I'd say he's putting ~15 KW thermal in and getting about 10% out electrical. All in all hats off and keep up the good work.
136 people working in the oil industry
The boilers are usually dark opaque so no light reaches the water, other clear boilers us a dark object to collect and transfer the heat. Colored water would only be useful in a clear glass jar.
OK, nice design but I think you should have a battery pack somewhere to store energy and use it instead of straight off the generator. Something happens, you shut down, no power. Also, I think you should modify your tank to take in water as it needs it to keep the take from popping a seam. My 2 cents to think about.
... ADDENDUM; well insulated tubing connected to higher elevation radiator '' heat exchanger'' part of a reservoir (tank) could return the water back into the system, if properly timed, could be mechanically operated/or better modification to make it automated, my suggestion!
salt water can be used as a thermal bank. 24 hour operation... boom
The Fresnel Lenses in front of the mirror would diffuse the light as the optimal focal point would be short on a 12x12 Fresnel Lens. Also, since Fresnel Lenses concentrate sunlight vs amplify it, the filtering of an additional layer (the lens) would reduce the reflection of the mirror. The Fresnel Lenses work best alone with each lens focused to an individual target.
Why go through this trouble? Just wire up that wife of yours and use that hotness to power up a city block.
nice, most tasteful of the sexist comments so far.
@Sam Powell Telling a beautiful woman she's beautiful is sexist? If someone said Dan was beautiful would that be sexist as well? He is by the way. We're sexual human beings dude, deal with it, fuck...
Sam Powell j
Brent Clouda no point of playing the white night, you don't need to come to her defense, she's already married to a guy who obviously makes plenty of money. I swear to God... You sjw's... SMH
Sam Powell you fucking sjws are definitely a waste of oxygen
its depressing to see any "dislikes" at all on these vids. Sure they are a bit excited by the prospect of renewable energy, but shouldn't we all be? This guy's ahead of his time and maybe not fully appreciated by our generation of petroleum-addicts.
It depends on the quality. For larger projects, Fresnel Lenses and true Parabolic Mirrors are too expensive to make. So mirror arrays like this one do the job. If you were 1:7 scale of this, our normal videos, the power of a Fresnel Lens and Parabolic Mirror are the same depending on optics, acrylic, and mirrored surfaces.
Thank you Sam, Dan, and Chuck, R.I.P., you have no idea... and I don't have the words.
Nice job. An old C-band satellite dish is much lighter and not too hard to find. Most people who still have one standing will be happy to let you haul it off for them. The solar input of a 10 foot dish is close to 8Kw, and a 12 footer around 11Kw.
Keep the steam line heavily insulated and as short as possible. Paint the receiver with BBQ paint and make it big. It is better to have 2 square feet at 400° than 0.5 square feet at 1000°. Use aluminum for better heat transfer.
Quite impressive stuff. Putting aside the technical aspects, projects like these can electrify the remote villages of developing countries. unlike solar tower, these small systems cannot run after sunset. If only systems for storing heat for night are made available, I strongly believe parabolic reflector based systems will be the best stand-alone power generators for remote areas.
I saw this guy putting it together. I Drive by it often. Thanks for sharing...
Hey, people need to build some of this monsters on trailer wheels so they can go any place they like. Good job, keep it up.
I really like you guys. I have many great solutions to our problems and one uses the solar furnace concept big time. I can't talk about this stuff with most people, they just have no head for it. You two are right on top of it though. Heliostatics is the number 1 catagory for power generation imo. I have great concepts in other forms of electricity generation, but the sun is a no brainer. Oil is for plastics and lubricants and stuff. Electricity all way baby!
I live in northern NY and there are a couple dozen or more commercial wind mills in area. Yes there is a sound, but it is soft and inaudible 200 feet away. Yes it can be intermittent. But not in the way most people think. Choose the right location and you will be generating power 80 to 95% of the time. For home power that is not a problem. Batteries can easily hold enough power for the 'lean' times. As for commercial, Every hour of windpower is one less hour of wasting resources.
thanks for open eyes of people whos want to produce their own energy, is aswsome
This is a good Start, just need to add and oil separator, I would also go from a simple to a compound cylinder setup.
Maybe even look at using some of the solar energy on a super heater, which will greatly improve the power out.
I am also looking at different energy sources what will use solar panels feeding a battery bank, with a back up wood fired steam plant on low solar / cold cloudy winter days.
That's a pretty awesome setup. The only problem might be how to stow the system when it gets windy, and also presumably the mirrors will need to track the sun across the sky.
nice setup ! a litle bit bulky but fonctionnal , you could add a return cycle for the vapor exhaust to a heat exchanger to condensate in water and have a continious cycle without having to add water , you could also add some peltier thermo-electric plate on hot part and generate more power due to differential of temperature between both side ( they are very small and affordable a pack of 10 piece of 2inch square 50-70 watt each cost about 10$ on ebay ) i assume you have a sun tracking system to optimize the exposure .
overall nice "mac giver style " free energy generator to run your homestead ! great to see people empower themselves and share knowledge.
Thank you for the nice comment Stef!
Hmm. That heat would have to go somewhere to get the water back. Fans would use energy but a stream would do it... But then it would negate the need for water. Condensors would be amazing if you needed to save water, or your system couldn't healthfully run on the raw water available.
If you distilled the steam you could make distilled water , which us electric car people pay 50 cents a gallon for . Might make more off the water than the electricty
Great video!
Your videos are fun to watch and also very inspiring.
We want to do this, as an alternative to solar panels! Was thinking of using rocks to store the heat, so can power the generator during the night or when it’s cloudy or raining.
I forgot to factor in how noisy it is, though! (So not something you can do if you have neighbors or just want peace and quiet….)
Love this! Cheap, easy once perfected. Let's get everyone off the grid with it!
Piss off.....the grid usage relies on EVERYONE using it and getting billed accordingly to share the cost of production and running it......the less that use it the more expensive it will get.
It's real nice to see people experimenting! 1 tip, a turbine would be better IMHO
as a kid, back in the 60's, I had these cards with images of steam locomotives, added to a chocolate bar or something. One of the cards I had kept for a long time, was that of one of the most advanced steam engines, designed at the end of the steam era. It recycled steam, no plume came out and it had injectors, about the place where car engines have there plugs, in order to accelerate the condensation. A genial engine with highest possible output! I never read anything about it eversince ...
Uncannily similar to my solarfy rendering...(at 10 seconds).
Except the rendering is in thin air and uses CPV instead of a steam or Stirling engine. Nice to see someone REALLY doing it!
Solar needs an "oil like" company that does it all "under one roof" in order to compete with coming shale oil and tar sands.
We are just about at peak "easy oil" already...
However, THIS IS AWESOME! I didn't know that 143 suns could boil water and cut wood!
@Terascon when you focus light on a photoV cell the heat deteriorates the cell quickly. 3M has a reflective coating that allows the heat portion to not be reflected. it did increase the output about 20-30% with solar tracking algorithm.
In the video they talk about some special modifications to the mirror array.
I do know that if a person uses "regular mirror" or second surface mirrors that you loose a tiny bit if efficiency due to the light being bounced THROUGH the glass 2 times and also the type and color of the glass used in the mirrors.
What would work better is first surface mirror like the big companies use.
Good luck finding that type of mirrored glass.
Also the elements tend to remove the coating unless they are coated
Simple, yet amazing results
If he tried to reclaim 100% of the water, yes. But 60% or less could be done with a very minimal amount of loss if any. That is actually part of his future goals.
I remember reading a great "how to" article written up in an old issue of the Mother Earth News from the late 70's of a system a lot like this one. It was smaller (I think 5hp), but it had an interesting tracking system. Maybe someone could find the article online? It had great details on how to make it. I would be a little worried the thing would explode if something got clogged, but other than that I think its a great idea. Thanks for posting it! Love your vids....
Yes, the 12,000 KW was a slip, it was 12,000 watts.
OK. Trying to be positive here. (but also REAL). Joe is to be commended for his efforts and is off to a great start. I'm not trying to be critical, but rather offer constructive criticism (which is hard 500 characters at a time) Take my word for it that I *do* know a bit about steam and boilers, but have taken this verbal repartee between myself and Joe offline, as I think it's more efficient that way. Keep up the good discussions, all.
It appears you're tracking the sun manually. I'd use dual linear actuators / axis. They'll do up to 1500 lbs per actuator and you can get a 48" stroke. It's very low duty cycle. Table look up with a programmed offset would be the best way to go with coding the controller.. I had a couple of small HCPV (high concentration PV) arrays . Good size 10-12kW is a very sustainable small ranch / farm array. If you get it tracking you'll need a wind stow circuit.. Good job keep up the good work!!
the begginings? This guys powers all the energy he needs for his household on any sunny day and with a reserviour can store as much as he needs for winter.. sometimes providing for yourself is the best way to free the world. people learn by example.
So far so good! Develope you scavging system to take the steam blow off to another chamber (condenser) to provide a continous loope to the boiler to reuse the water over and over.
Great video; something you might want to add to the generator is a return exhaust line funneling the spent steam back into the main water container which would eliminate or lease reduce the amount of times you had to refill the water container and also speed up the water boiling process by keeping the water at a temperature closer to its boiling point!! But good job nonetheless!!
U made the 1st water generator, because u only have to add water for steam. The solar panels just amplify the power output. Nicely done
I'm attempting to design a Fresnel multi-lense unit into a container home design I have on the drawing board along with a wind generator due to the number of wind days we have here also. All my/the main goal is to achieve water into steam which is @ 100c-212f and for an average home 10kw or better is ok. I know you are keeping some things "quiet" as anything from the focal point on is the secret and the temps achieved are one of those and I can't wait for those numbers! now to keep watching!
Interesting idea. Also could be used to heat other things besides water for electrical generation. Things that retain heat for when the sun goes down. Things that might give you more then 400 psi. Everybody has to start somewhere. Even if it seems like your reinventing the wheel.
Brilliant ! Well done, and thanks for spreading the knowledge that it can be done. And would somebody please remove the extremely offensive post from polybun.
You win the Best Comment of the Day Award, goodcat. I just hope it was not too far over gatto's head. Thank you goodcat excellent comment!
so I could charge my phone with this rig????? Nice work we need more of these
Yet this can be made quieter, and a sun tacker can be added. My Aunt and Uncle live totally off the grid and have for many years using primarily solar and some wind. Batteries charged during the day provide power for night and cloudy days. This system allows all the power needs of the home including Air conditioning to run all day and throughout the night.
The noise can be EASILLY be solved by putting the mechanical parts inside a shack, leaving only the mirror outside. To increase the power, you can also use magnifying glasses combined...
Agreed re:
"since 100% reflective and receiving efficiency is not possible "
Dan? No body said anything about that guys ability to make a steam engine as quiet as PV cells. But a steam engine can be made very quiet and iv heard extremely quiet steam engines first hand. In the video it is said it is a work in progress. This is basically a miniature version of what is already used in huge mirror arrays around the world. It works and on a small scale can be perfected.
Awesome new vid. Thanks Guys!
awsome video and great project! sweet idea for a series GPS.
An inspirational video! In countries near or within the tropics it's a no brainer. Why spend money on solar PV when the efficiency of energy conversion per square area from solar heat to steam is so much higher? Storing energy in batteries or raising water to a height to give hydro power could complete an off grid system. Space to do it could be an issue, but if we're serious about climate change this is a route to go.
Good concept. I can see a few practical problems...clean water is one problem...boilers vented to atmosphere must have pretty clean water and lots of it. I would investigate the practicality of using a condenser with purified water in a closed system....recovering heat being vented to atmosphere as shown would also improve the efficiency allowing for more hp output for the same solar heat collection apparatus.
@Nxcng
This video was a very good start for the author's point of view.
I am just thinking about HOW to recover as much of the heat from the sunlight as possible and either use it or store it somehow.
You do have to figure in your efficiencies and also losses .
That is why I intend on using solar PV panels with storage batteries for the electrical part of it to run the necessary pumps and controls.
Utilizing both types of solar just makes more sense and also makes it more green.
Good luck 2 all
16 M2 is roughly 172 FOOT2. The sun gives off about 100watts of Energy per square foot (PURE energy before conversion). I get your doubt, so I crunched some numbers to see :)
But yeah he needs full speed at the GENNY for full power. It looks like there is gearing at the end of the drive shaft before the GENNY. But Even when the steam engine was running fast the speed was going up and down.
It's an amazing project either way :)
58 people are jealous of this magnificent work!!!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing
100 square feet is about 9.3 square meters. At about 1000 watts per square meter and 50% efficiency such a mirror sytstem could produce about 30 kilowatt hours of electricity a day which is the amount of electricity used in a day by the average residenrial customer.
+John Smith What happend if the sun is cover?Can be improuved.With a heat exchanger,and a vacuum sistem.watter steam produce vacuum if destilled .First steam engine was actualy atmospher engines
now, run a DC generator and push that power to batteries.
You guys are fantastic on your vids as well as others...great work to both of yas.
love the steam generator concept and that sun is free :-)
great! it's a big help for people who lives in place where there is no electricity ..i wish upon my retirement to live in place without power,where I can build my own power supply..
@MrTeaB 1.3kW/m^2 is for the upper atmosphere and about 70% of that makes it to the ground due to reflection.
Hi
One way to make the system more efficient is to add a recovery system .
This is done by collecting the Steam from the pistons and with a pump and a one way valve resent back to the solar tank.
Carlos
Did you though about closed circuit of water? In that case, you need to add an compressor and condenser. Moreover, you could add regenerator. It won't loose any water and you can gain higher power due to higher efficiency.
Great project Thank you Joe !! Is there a lot of water consumption ?
I am guessing a close steam circuit would be expensive to make..
Thanks again for the tech !!
That's cool.
Agreed that he's probably not actually producing a whole 12 kW of power there. But this is an amateur enthusiast, not a "big energy" million-dollar project.
Kudos for proof-of-concept. Wonder how big you could make a lightweight parabolic dish?
Also, you have to take into account the efficiency of the steam engine. So even with a good evacuated tube collector setup.... you won't achieve anywhere near the electrical output that you do have in thermal output. To automate it you'd need a water dosing pump that adds the exact amount to turn into steam with temp sensor on output. Hotter temp = more input water, etc. The stirling engine is a better bet but no affordable units out there yet.
yes you can , dont listen to people that hold you back . and that was a very good question or point to make ... Lenses work with Source , angle of Lens , distance to Focus Point .. Your Focus Point can be reflected as long as it doesn't melt while reflecting it ... after knowing that , u should know spheres , and how they can magnify and bend light.. Crystal Balls , water spheres ect .. because a 3d crystal ball can refocus light a lens would melt trying to do ...
then there are prism's