Solar dish may revolutionize energy production

Wow, what an 'old idea' for so much HYPE; I mean, if you've been paying attention.....it hardly seems an 'invention' worthy of M.I.T.. What ever happened to REAL Yankee Ingenuity.
Oh, and what about the 'potential energy recovery' record holding solar dish device that uses a Sterling Cycle Engine - which heats and then cools Hydrogen Gas to run a Sterling Engine, and recoups 50%+ of the potential energy in the sunlight collected - that was in the Science Mags last year?
Are we a little not very up to date here? That device BLOWS away anything that ever came before it - because it uses the heat to run a Sterling Cycle Engine.
Steam - like COAL - is SOOOOO 19th Century!!!!

Listen up, folks. This idea is far from being "new". I can't give you the issue number or date, but Mother Earth News carried an article DECADES ago describing the same type of structure. The only difference between the two is that the original author constructed his mirrored device to heat water. It would only take a modicum of tweaking to increase the efficiency to the extent that temperatures at the focal point be sufficient to turn water to steam. The "inventor" of the current device should have done his homework. He obviously didn't. I would hope that someone would do the research and give credit where credit is due.

This isn't really new. I bet the guy reads Mother Earth News. There was an article from the late 70's or 80's of a near exact same thing. The one from M.E.N. also had a tracking feature and used a radiator at the focal point. The only difference I see is this one keeps the mirrors edge to edge. Seems that would make this more difficult to build. The plans were in that magazine too.

There isn't anything wrong with this but it will be necessary to convert the energy into storage for 100% use because the sun is not available all the time. These methods are not cheap.

I guess the real question is, what are the "patented elements" of his design? The support structure, perhaps? The fact that it appears to use "strips" of mirror, as opposed to a solid surface, or individual "cell" mirrors?

How's this for an idea for a cheap, lightweight mirror:
- Build a box with an open side of the size required, and make it roughly air-tight except the open side.
- Set a circular rail inside, possibly with a parabolic framework beneath it.
- Add a vacuum pump.
- Place a piece of reflectorized Mylar (like they make those party balloons out of) over the open end, and seal the perimeter.
- Activate the vacuum pump until you have pulled the Mylar into the desired shape. (Maybe use sensors either monitoring the reflective properties, or use a sensor on the aforementioned parabolic framework.)
- Use the sensors for feedback to the vacuum pump to keep it in the proper shape.

Tada! You now have a mirror, suitable for pumping heat from the sun into anything you suspend at the focal point. If Mylar isn't strong or durable enough for a particular installation, use a different material. Or use the resultant curved surface to create a negative mold, which is then used to produce positives out of a more durable material. If you aren't going for pin-point optical clarity, the surface doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, an imperfect focal point could be beneficial if you are heating a coil or some other element.

Note that this, along with other solar options, needs to be set up in "vast arrays" similar to wind energy to make them economically viable. The likely areas because of the need for a high ratio of sunlight and open space is the Southwest.

Unfortunately what they don't talk about is the need to build a power transmission structure in order to get the generated power into the electricity grid. That means costly towers and transmission lines over many miles of terrain. The greenies are already fighting some of these.

The fact that you can generate power doesn't solve the problem of getting it where it is needed.

To expand upon Leiif's comment - Visit Mother Earth News' archives. Re: "At Last! A Low Cost Solar Furnace!", dated 7/1/1978. "Inventor" Wood did nothing more than to gussy up Charles Curnutt's original invention in order to make it more efficient. Sure would be nice if people like Mr. Wood would do their homework before claiming originality on something "new" that they've "invented". Note that Mr Curnutt built the original furnace 30 Years ago - almost to the date! Tsk, Tsk, Mr. Wood. Shame on you!

For a history of such work, and also a very smart, cheap and highly efficient solution (far superior to the current "news"), Google "Double-Cylindrical Point Focus"

The double-cylindrical point focus principle

• Was discovered in California 1976 by Ambjörn Naeve and Lloyd Cross.

• Is a simple method to concentrate parallel rays (= planar waves) to a point.

• Substitutes a parabolic disc with two parabolic cylinders.

• Makes it possible to:
• tune in the focus by bending two flat sheets.
• place the focal point outside of the mirrors, where it is freely available to perform work.

This really is an old idea. I remember an article that predates Mother Earth News from Popular Science. In their cover article they proposed a similar device which heated mineral oil, not water. Oil is a better heat sink than water. The oil was pumped through pipes and radiators used to heat homes. As the saying goes, "there is nothing new under the sun."

Well now, there are lots of "new things under the Sun", ....... especially for the younger folks who were never told about the "old things".

So I ask you, ..... just how many young folks over the past 21 years got "short changed" by just this one (1) Science Teacher?

REF: Mt Vernon, Ohio -- Board Opts to Fire Creationist Science Teacher

"On Friday, June 20th, 2008, five-member Mt Vernon school board unanimously voted on a resolution to fire Mt Vernon middle school science teacher John Freshwater. Freshwater has been at the center of a controversy which erupted into public view when Freshwater, a teacher of 21 years at Mt Vernon Middle School, announced that the sch........ "

And teachers like John Freshwater are everywhere, ......... they have been and are everywhere in the Public School System.

/

These solar reflectors could easily create steam to turn a turbine attached to to a generator. The electricity produced could be used for electrolysis of water thereby producing a much needed hydrogen
to be stored for future use. thousands of these Little plants in the sunny states would generate volumes of a much needed fuel such as hydrogen. today, we read about the new cars that are coming out that will run on hydrogen. let's go for it ! these solar generators look like the way to go!

I contend that whoever invents or improves upon an existing idea will and should be viewed as people trying to make a difference. Let's be open minded to all the positive ideas being proposed. Someone out there, just may spark an idea that others can improve upon and with faith and preseverance perhaps find solutions to our energy crisis. It is time for all to focus our efforts and resources to provide a future for our children and stop lining our pockets with profits and living with greed. Perserve the future or we will all pay the price. Share the technology when it arrives, support the human race, help our planet heal.

This article is describing a 200 year old technology. Concentrating a beam on the focus of a parabolla is as old as math itself. The pickle is what to with the generated heat. Prevailing ideas are: generate steam for a turbine, melt a salt in a closed loop to move a turbine, or concentrate the light directly on a special photo cell. There are several firms working on all three concepts.

I'd like to see the photo where the sparrow flies throught the focal point of the mirror and disappears into a puff of smoke. ;-)
But seriously, everyone involved should keep going after the prize - cost effective independence from the grid.

How is this different from the above link, which is scheduled to go online in CA in a couple of years, and is (I think) already being tested in Israel?

Coupled with the high efficiency solid state thermal energy converter that is being developed this system could have very high efficiencies. Only problem is that it needs a cheap and useful way of storing the energy for when it is really wanted - like at night, and when you're chargin up your plug-in hybrid... ideas anyone???

True this may have been an old idea inn a new skin, so what ? three decades ago oil was at $36, and we now hear that $200 is not impossible.
What is of interest is that a cheap collector buildable anywhere, can actually set off a chain reaction, if details are shared. Wish someone would let me in on the actual strip-mirror component as I think that production cost for a curved surface would be only a fraction of whatn it costs in the States, and that would include the template.
Can someone let me know how to get more details so as to build one here in India, and combine it with an Insulated vessel of super heated highly saline water for night use. Usually one takes a position on a subject, but never does anything positive, well, I am really keen to take this idea and physically build a system that works. I would like to share the fruits with evwilling to everyone, and welcome comments and suggestions, but especially hope to form a team to run with the idea.

So out of all you people that say this is old news, how many of you have one in your backyard?

More power to the guy if he can design a simple, build-anywhere version of, yes, a well-known concept. And yes, energy storage is still an issue, but the reality is that a huge proportion of power is needed in the middle of the day, when this device is operating at peak capacity. This is true especially in the summer - when AC usage is highest and when businesses are using the most energy. And a large amount of that energy need can be satisfied (with retrofitting) with a good source of steam - either to drive a generator for electricity generation or to drive AC mechanicals directly.