SES faced a manufacturing challenge in preparing its SunCatchers for mass production though. “The systems at Sandia were basically hand-built,” says Charles Andraka, a Sandia engineer and Stirling expert who worked with SES on the system’s design. For the Phoenix site, he notes, Sandia and SES engineers built 60 units in three months. “We have to do that many in a day for the larger plants.”
In order to do this, SES turned to the experts in rapid production of engines and related parts: the automotive industry. In partnership with automotive companies such as Tower Automotive and Linamar Corporation, SES managed to reduce the parts in the PCU by 60 percent (to about 650) and slash the weight of the entire system by roughly 2,250 kilograms. Andraka highlights one example of the upgrade: in the original engines, he points out, gas passed over the outside of the engine, with pieces of tubes and fittings at either end, requiring a total of approximately 20 parts. “On the new engine, the gas passage is a part of the block with no external parts. It’s much more reliable, much cheaper to assemble, with fewer parts and fewer places to leak,” Andraka says. The new systems have been running on test sites for more than 100,000 hours.
Maricopa Solar also represents just one scalable module; each multi-megawatt field will be grouped first in 60-engine units that come together to generate 1.5 MW, then those larger units are linked to each other to produce up to 9 MW. Explains Coates, “With the large 750 MW commissions, we won’t have to wait until we have 750 MW of dishes before we start producing power. This means that the utility can get the power prior to the full build-out, which can take years to complete.” This is in comparison to parabolic trough or tower CSP technology, which doesn’t generate electricity until the entire system is complete.
Meanwhile, Tessera Solar, SES’s sister company in charge of development, is renegotiating contracts with utilities in California but expects to supply power at or below the cost of other solar technologies, and they plan to break ground on bigger solar Stirling engine power plants in Texas and California in 2010. Tisdale says he remains somewhat skeptical, but also optimistic: “This 1.5 MW site is key to demonstrating that it works.”
See what we're tweeting about
55 Comments
Add CommentNot bad for something that could have been done in the 1970s and seriously reduced global warming.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisStirling engines have been around for a very long time - it is long overdue that they be used for projects like this.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wonder what the mean time between failure is for production class engines. With solar panels you fire and forget aside from cleaning and perhaps the occasional electrical connection repair. At hight temperatures and pressures using hydrogen gas I wonder how often maintenance must be performed on each engine?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSounds like another advertising article. I notice there was no mention at all of the prime competitor to solar-driven Stirling cycle engines: solar-driven turbines. Last I heard, these were getting something like 35% efficiency under the same conditions as described here. These are also a relatively mature technology. Why were these not mentioned?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisClearly all types of alternative energy technologies are going to come available as oil begins to wane as a natural resource.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBig oil simply has no choice but to allow it to happen now. Enough political clout is behind the ideas to make it happen.
For those understanding spanish, here is the link to the webpage on Stirling engines of my cousin Jaime: http://jgros.es/ Enjoy it, nice year 2010, salud +
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMCMalkemus,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMake sure you understand that Big Oil (for the most part) operates under different market conditions than power generation. Oil is mainly used for transportation, not power generation. This sterling engine will, for the most part, displace Big Coal; which is just as good as displacing Big Oil
Sorry, but allthough I am not THAT well aquainted with Stirling engines, I find 30 (one ?) percent thermal afficiency an outrageous claim. This would require an expansion ratio comparable to diesel, and we all know that stirling-engines "expansion ratio" is pathetically low. I am more likely to believe that you have holes through your hands !
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe indoctrination runs deep, young padawan.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn the 1970s, everyone was talking about the next ice age. They hadn't figured out how to hoax us on global warming yet. That happened in the 90s.
Oil is nowhere near running out. Any shortages we suffer are the result of political sabotage by the greens.
Coal is also nowhere near running out.
Solar power will NEVER be practical for industrial use unless you can somehow get around that annoying little fact that incident sunlight is 1370 watts per square meter.
Should be possible to use the electromagnetic energy of the Sun or the Earth?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thissteam/Rankine engines weigh far less, more eff, cost less either piston or turbine. All the other CSP units use them for those reasons.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat we really need are a 5-10hp units for home/building CSP, CHP use as they would be far more cost effective.
Okay, we're getting good handles on several alternative methods of producing energy from solr Radiation. We seem to be up against the wall of a dead end alley on another part of the equation::
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this.........................E.N.E.R.G.Y...S.T.O.R.A.G.E..............................
Batteries aren't making advances quick enough and what ones do come along seem to present increasingly more difficult pollution problems. These engines mentioned here, both types fellas, harken back to the method of Mass Storage employed by Tesla, Edison , Westinghouse, et al, The Flywheel!! Hugh massive hunk of rotating potential energy. No pollution associated with them (well a lot less than exotic batteries and problems we've learned to deal with for hundress of years from extraction smelting and slag residue)
..............B.A.C.K....T.O....T.H.E....F.U.T.U.R.E.....................
;;
1370 watts ay ? That would be during the day, I assume. During a winter or a summer day ? What lattitude would that figure apply to ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think we can "safely" say that long before geological oil and coal reserves are exhausted, the distasters created by the effects of burning it will make it "counter-productive". But just like a sad junkie, Man will continue to make use of his "panacea" or "cure-all".
Interesting idea that I have given some thought. I feel sure that a "gas-turbine" system - with hear-exchanger - could have a possibility, allthough I currently see no chance for the "Sterling cycle". I must google for some info.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have a extremely good wind turbine-Alternator Device (TAD ?) some 20 years in the making, pairs of which would form the "gas-turbine". ALL that is required then is heat-exchangers, period. Make Sun into Wind ! - but is it possible.
Believe me, my turbines arer Very good. bertdotwindonatgmaildotcom
Have you discovered arithametic yet ? It really helps, once you have worked-out the meanings of words. You know, "Potential", "Energy" , "rotating" - stuff like that.Then you can do stuff like "How much ENERGY will it require to "rotate" my PC monitor ? or to type a letter. Or maybe sit-down and sober-up ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFrgough,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswhat a load of rubbish! They did NOT predict an ice-age in the 70's. Indeed, have you seen the Bell Telephone Company global warming movie from 1958? Grow up and stop pushing internet myths!
Bell movie quoted here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB3S0fnOr0M
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11643-climate-myths-they-predicted-global-cooling-in-the-1970s.html
I'm just testing whether SCIAM allows hyperlinking.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this<a href="http://tinyurl.com/cf8nrf">New Scientist article click here.</a>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB3S0fnOr0M
">Youtube with Bell Telephone science show global warming episode here</a>
D'oh! It doesn't allow easy hyperlinking!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOK, this is New Scientist's article on how "they did NOT predict an ice age in the 70's"
Just copy and paste into your browser
http://tinyurl.com/cf8nrf
This is a GREAT youtube on the 70's climate predictions, and is WELL worth your time. I watch everything this guy makes.
http://tinyurl.com/ye9esrt
".......................E.N.E.R.G.Y...S.T.O.R.A.G.E.............................."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCompact energy storage is a problem but industrial size energy storage has several solutions. One simple one is two reservoirs, one higher than the other. When have excess energy, pump water from lower to higher, when need more energy, run it through water turbine as it falls from higher reservoir to the lower reservoir.
Another is compressed air. A place near Mobile is using partially hollowed salt domes as huge air tanks, compressing air to go in during times of excess energy production, running it through wind turbines during times of need. I think they are even using it to supercharge some other heat engine but the energy storage system is same.
And, of course, you can separate water into hydrogen and oxygen and recombine as needed. Fuel cell system gives most of energy back, heat engines nowhere near as much but simpler if you have an excess to waste. Doesn't have to be spherical cryogenic hydrogen storage, just big pressure tanks.
"Solar power will NEVER be practical for industrial use unless you can somehow get around that annoying little fact that incident sunlight is 1370 watts per square meter."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAssume only one kilowatt per square metre makes it to surface of earth. One kilometre squared would have a million square metres, or one gigawatt of incoming power. Taking into account day/night cycles, latitude, conversion efficiencies, even 100 megawatt average output per square kilometre ain't all that bad.
Assuming materials and maintenance costs don't eat you up, of course.
Ah, arithmetic there it is in the dictionary right after arithametic. It all adds up now. Yes quite a dicovery my tad powered dictionary Urp, pass me another bud will ya? And while your up throw a few degrees on the angular momentum.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"In the 1970s, everyone was talking about the next ice age." - frgough
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd just a few months ago, everyone was talking about Michael Jackson.
However, in the scientific press, there were no articles that were printed warning of an imminent onset of an ice age,
Sorry John Boy. But your sources have no credibility.
You are jabbering nonsense about a myth.
"Solar power will NEVER be practical for industrial use unless you can somehow get around that annoying little fact that incident sunlight is 1370 watts per square meter." - Frgough
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEquivalent to 11 amps of power per square meter at 120 Volts.
If collected at 100% efficiency one square meter would provide all of the energy I use per day.
As to Industry. The fact is, over 80% of labour is unproductive, and manufacturers are known to design their products to fail prematurely and to be unservicable to provide an aftermarket for replacement products.
Build a product that lasts twice as long and you half it's energy costs.
The capitalist system as it is now known, will soon be a thing oof the past. And the world will be a better place for it.
Except for pumped storage the efficiency is pretty crappy. I like big batteries. They're still expensive but there are MWh batteries now.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFlywheels are in use but they don't have enough energy density. There is only so much centrifugal acceleration even carbon fiber can take. In modern flywheel systems (e.g. for IT center power storage), if you breach the vacuum, the carbon fiber disk will burn up from the air friction.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNot strong The Force is in you.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHere's something for you to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T4UF_Rmlio
1370 watts per square meter is the intensity of sunlight at 1 AU from the Sun. You cannot get more energy than this from solar power without moving closer to the sun.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUnlike you, I was alive in the 1970s. There was a great deal of discussion on global cooling. The culprit was PM10. If we didn't take steps to reduce PM10, we were running the risk of triggering a new ice age.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this" even 100 megawatt average output per square kilometre ain't all that bad.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAssuming materials and maintenance costs don't eat you up, of course."
Your last line is the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about.
1370 watts per square meter is in space. You can never get more than a 1,000 here (that's what the manufactures use for rating). Dishes are better than trough and tower because they are more efficient and pose no ENVIRO concerns as they are post mounted and therefore do not interfere with (what) wildlife. This way, thousands of square miles of deserts do not need to be turned in to giant parking lots for other mirrors. By resorting to the auto industry for automation tricks, SES may overcome the "elephant in the room". I assume that all the efforts would not have resulted into the perfected dish if there is indeed a "moving parts" issue.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPeople need to DEMAND "solar automation". Kind of like an appolo program for making AUTOMATED solar PV FACTORIES and such LiFePO4 battery factories designed for electric car and UTILITY STORAGE. Only then will we be able to slow down on fossils and create unlimited wealth from unlimited energy... Yes on Solar!
I was just wondering whether the silicon solar panels could be used together with this Stirling machines.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe electricity generated by silicon solar panels could be used for help cooling.
It may help to increase the efficiency of this Engine. Just a thought.
I pity the fools that read science news, but with such closed minds that they find wacky arguments of climate change deniers with believing in, let alone repeating. If you respect science, respect the fact that most scientists and sci-literate folks refuted the deniers, and go post denier drivel elsewhere.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisREGARDING:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"I pity the fools that read science news, but with such closed minds that they find wacky arguments of climate change deniers with believing in, let alone repeating. If you respect science, respect the fact that most scientists and sci-literate folks refuted the deniers, and go post denier drivel elsewhere."
There's closed minds and then there's closed minds. Since I haven't actually looked at the models and verified all the assumptions myself, it isn't unreasonable to question them.
If I verify they are all one hundred percent reasonable and repeatable and conform with historical data and still doubt, then I truly have a closed mind.
If I determine some of the assumptions are unreasonable and/or find they do not conform with historical data and still believe, then I also have a closed mind.
If I question, then maybe I have an open mind.
If, as you claim, there have been scientists who have looked at the matter and questioned the conclusions, would it really be wise to consider the matter settled simply because someone tells me a vote was taken and a majority went the other way?
How about a report on the status of Lonnie Johnson's solid state JTEC device?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat econimic model has been found to be more efficient than a democratic capitalism?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSisko:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTo paraphrase Churchill (poorly). " Democratic capitalism sucks, but any other system yet devised by man sucks worse".
Don't get bent out of shape about Vendicar69. He's an arts grad who lives in his mom's basement.
Make hydrogen electrolytically and you have the key ingredient for process using carbon dioxide that lead to all renewable carbon based products!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMake hydrogen electrolytically and you have the key ingredient for processes using carbon dioxide that lead to all renewable carbon based products!
I just wish I could've had one of these when I was a young man. Maybe then, my mom would've understood why I didn't come home until the sun came up.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell go-on then ! we just can't wait. What's the problem ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo where were you ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYes, so long as there is enough Oil to provide the energy with which to build every crazy contraption amagineable.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo you know anything - at all - about Sterling engines ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe prospect of coal and/or oil "running-out" is not the immediate problem, as you kindly point-out. The immediate problem is that the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased by nearly 40% ? since the turn of last century. This is greatly sending the natural warming and coling "oscillations" of the whole Earth into a general Warming direction. So far it's just the snow on Kilimangaro, a few coral reefs, a few species here and there -the Polar bear for instance - put under stress and needing to mirate, and bigger and better cyclones - and the acidification of the oceans. Not the sort of things to give real Men cause for concern. Like we can always change our hair-gell if the going gets tough, but for fish - remember them ? - it's not so simple.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGreat !, do let us know when your house is "up and running" on it !. "Electromagnetic energy" ?. Is that something you find in Breaker's yards ? - or Sunlight ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe future of solar power is solar chemical fuels. We should use the sun's energy to create alternative fuels directly - like methanol, from atmospheric carbon dioxide and water vapor.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis will require the development of better catalysts and chemical systems, but it radically simplifies the problem of energy storage and distribution.
No batteries, no intermittent supply problems, just collect the methanol and distribute it from the existing fuel supply infrastructure.
Then deserts and marginal or waste land can become sources of fuel - literally.
Carbon dioxide can be recovered from improved molecular sieves, water can be recovered from the atmosphere by condensing apparatus - all powered by concentrating solar systems.
There is no reason to believe that even Silicon pv senergy systems are self- sustainable, and even less for such as Sterling engines, despite raving claims of (lightly loaded) diesel-like thermal efficiency. But have happy dreams, I guess that's the main thing. Don't let facts spoil tham, nor get out of bed to do something, because that just makes matters worse. Ptime example - "Windfarms"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYes - be nice to Sterling engines ! It is high time that they were used for projects, rather than just as toys.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMaybe if they were used for saving the world, the world would be saved ? - or doesn't it work like that ?
"Oil is nowhere near running out. "
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYes and no.
Many fields offering cheap petrol are running out within 20 years. The answer is no for cheap petrol. The answer is yes for very expensive petrol. Indeed there are more fields but the costs will grow dramatically.
Another reason why we will have shortages is simply that China and India and you will not stop them to get priority as they become richer and richer.
Last and not least, we are bringing a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere and we are changing things. Hence, the greehouse effect will accelerate, even if you do not believe in it, scientists forecast climatic changes to come and they will be devastating chaotic results and this may lead to major planetary collapse. Nature will follow its way with our without us.
Do not tell us that the governments are manipulated by the green, more chances are that the big companies have lobbyed our MPs and you are getting manipulated for the sole reason that mankind is pathetically lazy, especially when he is living on the land of plenty.
As you say - "nature" - whatever that is these days - will take it's course whether people want to argue about it or not. Ice will always melt at 0 deg. C. CO2 will always be made when carbon-compounds burn. The Sun will very likely continue to shine, and CO2 in the air will continue to do what it does. No ammount of stupid emails can change any of this. And the Earth IS warming.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs there any way for one of these engines to store power? Without any molten salt involved it seems there would have to be a fossil fuel source for the night...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe company went bankrupt and auctioned off all of their assets. The buyer removed the solar reflectors and the site is now empty.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2012/04/05/20120405bankrupt-maricopa-solar-power-plant-rare-dishes-to-be-auctioned.html
Some of the comments above indicate the writers have no scientific or engineering education. The next thing I expect to see is that stirling engines can prevent cancer, cure baldness, and eliminate earthquakes. I suggest reading the Wikipedia article on stirling engines before making any comments.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt appears that some of the comments above are by persons with little or no scientific or engineering education. I won't be surprised to read a comment stating that the stirling cycle can cure cancer, prevent baldness, and eliminate earthquakes. Before saying anything foolish, I recommend that everyone read the Wikipedia article on the stirling cycle
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs to using the electromagnetic energy of the sun, it would only require a cable between sun and earth. That way we have free energy forever. This is something that only a democrat would think up - something for nothing
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this