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During the process of researching an article about green products on photovoltaic cell systems (solar panels), I came across another way to convert the sun’s light into electricity. So let’s take a 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 system is ideal when a concentrated heat source is applied, in this case sunlight. The sunlight is collected with parabolic mirrors and focused on to the surface of the hot chamber, causing the chamber to be heated and the engine to start. This temperatures can be very high. You know this from, when as a child, you took a magnifying glass and focused it on a piece of paper. When done correctly the paper would get dark and then a flame would appear.

With better-designed engines and new types of material, a movable (tracking) parabolic mirror, and a single Stirling engine you can produce 25 kilowatts of electricity.

In a future article about green products I will list the different solar technologies and how they compare to the competition.

Michael

See more of Michael’s concern for your carbon footprints at Green Products

Solar Energy alternative energy, Energy, energy conservation, Green, green energy, renewable energy, Solar Energy, Solar Power