Gravock
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A 100-fold Increase in the actuation speed and power of the evaporation driven system has already been achieved by using water directly instead of evaporation! Here's a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqNxkhYjtyY]video showing how to increase the evaporation rate 5 times faster. We can now use the water directly and the evaporation rate that is 5 times faster in a hybrid evaporation/water driven system.
This is HUGE and will dramatically increase the power and efficiency of the water/evaporation driven system! The floating photo-thermal material used to increase the evaporation rate 5 times faster can generate steam on its upper surface with greater than 90% solar energy conversion efficiency! Greater than 90% energy conversion efficiency can be realized by using concentrated solar energy! This is a highly efficient low cost solar-steam generation system. However, a solar-steam powered multi-fuel home generator can be built with over 100% efficiency when utilizing solar power and the hybrid evaporation/water driven system!
Robert Murray-Smith is building a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2CZ1YMZ5_0]DIY Multi Fuel Home Generator (Part 1). Here's Part 2 (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcPlmaAlCr8]Changing One Type of Engine Into Another Type of Engine) of the DIY Generator build. This generator is basically a steam powered generator using a rocket stove that can run on many different types of fuel, such as solar, kerosene, diesel, gas, natural gas, propane, syngas, waste oil, vegetable oil, wood, etc. Steam engines and turbines operate on the Rankine cycle which has a maximum Carnot efficiency of 63% for practical engines, with steam turbine power plants able to achieve efficiency in the mid 40% range. The rocket stove can be used during times where solar power isn't optimal for the solar-steam powered multi-fuel home generator.
Stop chasing the wind and start building this Multi-Fuel Solar-Steam Power Generator that can be used to power your home at extremely low costs.
Gravock
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This is a truly a great open source topic !
And One that can inspire ..please consider a moderated board !
Respectfully
Chet K
PS
Thanks again for sending the info …. Amazing to consider the possibilities!
Edit for more info from OP
would use the Double Cylindrical Point Focus Principle (DCPF) to concentrate the solar energy to a focal point. Below is a description of a
video on the "Double Cylindrical Point Focus principle" discovered in 1976. Here's a detailed
PDF publication on the "Double Cylindrical Point Focus Principle" which may help with the proper dimensions of the two mirrors. MirrorPlex, mirrored plexi-glass, or thin plastic mirror sheets can bend. Also, any material which can bend could be covered with reflective tape, mylar foil, etc. Mirror window film for windows can be found at Lowes or Home Depot. It's similar to window tint on a car, but reflective like a mirror. This window film blocks 79% of the suns heat, so it's a good reflective material that is cheap and easy to apply.
The parabola has the well-known property of reflecting axis-parallel rays to a point
YouTube - Parabola-Focal-Ray-Reflect. If we rotate the parabola around its axis, we create a parabolic disc, which has the well-known property of reflecting parallel rays (= planar wave-fronts) that are incident along the axis direction of the disc to a point. An animation that shows this process is available at
YouTube - Parabolic Disc PointFocus. We can avoid the "astronomical costs" associated with creating (= casting) a large parabolic disc by bending two flat mirror sheets in the shape of parabolic cylinders to create an exact point focus. This is due to the:
Double Cylindrical Point Focus principle: If the focal line of the first cylinder is identical to the generating line of the parabola that is the intersection of the second cylinder with a plane perpendicular to its axis, then the incoming rays will be reflected to a perfect point. For a proof of the DCPF principle, see
Point Focus Proof and for an animation see
YouTube - Double-Cylindrical PointFocus - animation. The DCPF principle was discovered on November 16, 1976 by Ambjörn Naeve,
See Point Focus Discovery, and is demonstrated in the earlier video by Tomas Elofsson, Gusum, Sweden, in July 1989.
Besides being easier than the ordinary parabolic disc to build in large sizes (avoiding "astronomical costs"), the DCPF has the advantage that the focal point can be placed outside of the solar influx area, where it is freely available to do work. See
Focal Point Outside Solar Influx Area. The DCPF also has the advantage that the number of planar approximator strips of fixed width grows LINEARLY with the overall size (since one dimension is unaffected) instead of QUADRATICALLY, as with an ordinary parabolic disc. For a comparison, see
YouTube - The Archimedes Death Ray Lesson.
Tuning the primary mirror:
http://tinyurl.com/5eqz3b.
Tuning the secondary mirror:
http://tinyurl.com/6qt5ud.
Using these DC Point Focusing mirrors, we have melted limestone (2560 deg C) in free air. See
http://tinyurl.com/6jsfd4. A VR-based lecture from October 2000 can be found at
YouTube - CyberMath: PointFocus. For the full story behind the DC PointFocus,
see PointFocusSimple and Efficient Solar Tracking
DIY Solar Tracking System Inspired by NASA (Parker Solar Probe)
The above video demonstrates a simple autonomous solar tracking system that can be used with solar panels, parabolic mirrors, or the DCPF method to improve their performance in producing renewable energy. The demonstrated system uses two 10rpm, 6v geared electric motors, and four 5v, 0.6w solar panels connected in a configuration that allows the motors to constantly move the panels into shade. The cost of the electronics was about $10, and could easily be scaled up or down as necessary for a variety of solar applications.
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