Solar energy concentrators. How to build a solar concentrator with your own hands from improvised means, a free guide from GoSol (video)
Solar energy can be collected and used different ways. One of the simplest and most effective is a mirror reflector and concentrator. It is not difficult to make it yourself.
The reflector reflects the sun's rays and concentrates them on a container of water. It heats up and boils, giving out a jet of steam. The design of the device is quite simple, the main thing is that the mirrors automatically turn to the desired angle and follow the Sun.
We send the resulting steam, for example, to an oven for cooking, through pipes to heat a house, to a turbine for generating electricity, to an engine, refrigerator, etc. In fact, if you look at any manufacturing process, then almost any part of it can be converted to steam.
Self-made steam generator Solar-OSE on linear mirrors controlled by arduino boards at the French maker conference POC21, dedicated to homemade environmental projects.
Recently, the authors posted in the public domain under a Creative Commons license instructions for assembling the device. Such a compact 1 kW device is great for small businesses, especially in countryside. If you combine several modules, then the power increases several times.
According to the makers, the cost of all parts of the steam generator will be approximately $2000, but there are different variants savings.
Estimated assembly time: 150 hours. One week, three people.
The instructions provide full list and the dimensions of all materials, as well as the tools necessary for the job.
The problem of using solar energy has occupied the best minds of mankind since ancient times. It was clear that the Sun is the most powerful source of free energy, but no one understood how to use this energy. If you believe the ancient writers Plutarch and Polybius, then the first person to practically use solar energy was Archimedes, who, using some optical devices he invented, managed to collect the sun's rays into a powerful beam and burn the Roman fleet.
In essence, the device invented by the great Greek was the first concentrator of solar radiation, which collected the sun's rays into one energy beam. And at the focus of this concentrator, the temperature could reach 300 ° C - 400 ° C, which is quite enough to ignite the wooden ships of the Roman fleet. One can only guess what kind of device Archimedes invented, although, according to modern ideas He had only two options.
The very name of the device - solar concentrator- speaks for itself. This device receives the sun's rays and collects them into a single energy beam. The simplest concentrator is familiar to everyone from childhood. This is an ordinary biconvex lens, which could burn out various figures, inscriptions, even whole pictures, when the sun's rays were collected by such a lens into a small dot on a wooden board, a sheet of paper.
This lens belongs to the so-called refractor concentrators. In addition to convex lenses, Fresnel lenses and prisms also belong to this class of concentrators. Long-focus concentrators based on linear Fresnel lenses, despite their low cost, are practically used very little, since they have large sizes. Their use is justified where the dimensions of the concentrator are not critical.
Refractory Solar Concentrator
The prismatic concentrator of solar radiation is deprived of this shortcoming. Moreover, such a device is also capable of concentrating part of the diffuse radiation, which significantly increases the power of the light beam. The trihedral prism, on the basis of which such a concentrator is built, is both a radiation receiver and a source of an energy beam. In this case, the front face of the prism receives radiation, the back face reflects, and radiation is already emerging from the side face. The operation of such a device is based on the principle of total internal reflection of rays before they hit the side face of the prism.
Unlike refractor concentrators, reflex concentrators work on the principle of collecting reflected energy into an energy beam. sunlight. According to their design, they are divided into flat, parabolic and parabolic-cylindrical concentrators. If we talk about the effectiveness of each of these types, then the highest degree concentrations - up to 10,000 - give parabolic concentrators. But for the construction of solar heating systems, mainly flat or parabolic-cylindrical systems are used.
Parabolic (reflector) solar concentrators
Practical application of solar concentrators
Actually, the main task of any solar concentrator is to collect the radiation of the sun into a single energy beam. And you can use this energy in various ways. It is possible to heat water with free energy, and the amount of heated water will be determined by the size and design of the concentrator. Small parabolic devices can be used as solar oven for cooking food.
Parabolic concentrator as a solar oven
Can be used for additional lighting solar panels to increase output power. And can be used as external source heat for Stirling engines. The parabolic concentrator provides a focus temperature of about 300°C - 400°C. If, for example, a stand for a teapot, pans, is placed in the focus of such a relatively small mirror, then you get a solar oven, on which you can cook food and boil water very quickly. A heater with a coolant placed at the focus will allow you to quickly heat up even running water, which can then be used for household purposes, for example, for showering, washing dishes.
The simplest scheme for heating water with a solar concentrator
If a Stirling engine of suitable power is placed at the focus of a parabolic mirror, then we can get a small thermal power plant. For example, Qnergy has developed and launched the QB-3500 Stirling engines, which are designed to work with solar concentrators. In fact, it would be more correct to call them generators electric current based on Stirling engines. This unit generates an electric current with a power of 3500 watts. The output of the inverter is a standard voltage of 220 volts 50 hertz. This is quite enough to provide electricity to a house for a family of 4, a dacha.
By the way, using the principle of operation of Stirling engines, many craftsmen make devices with their own hands that use rotational or reciprocating motion. For example, water pumps for summer cottages.
The main disadvantage of a parabolic concentrator is that it must be constantly oriented towards the sun. Industrial helium plants use special tracking systems that rotate mirrors or refractors to follow the movement of the sun, thereby ensuring reception and concentration maximum number solar energy. For individual use, it would hardly be advisable to use such tracking devices, since their cost can significantly exceed the cost of a simple reflector on a conventional tripod.
How to make your own solar concentrator
The easiest way to make a homemade solar concentrator is to use old plate from a satellite dish. First you need to decide for what purposes this hub will be used, and then, based on this, choose the installation site and prepare the base and fasteners accordingly. Thoroughly wash the antenna, dry it, stick a mirror film on the receiving side of the dish.
In order for the film to lie flat, without wrinkles and folds, it should be cut into strips no more than 3-5 centimeters wide. If you intend to use the concentrator as a solar oven, it is recommended to cut a hole in the center of the plate with a diameter of about 5 - 7 centimeters. Through this hole, a bracket with a support for dishes (burner) will be passed. This will ensure the immobility of the container with the cooked food when the reflector is turned to the sun.
If the plate is small in diameter, it is also recommended to cut the strips into pieces about 10 cm long. Stick each piece separately, carefully adjusting the joints. When the reflector is ready, it should be installed on the support. After that, it will be necessary to determine the focus point, since the optical focus point at the satellite dish does not always coincide with the position of the receiving head.
Homemade solar concentrator - oven
To determine the focal point, you need to arm yourself with dark glasses, a wooden plank and thick gloves. Then you need to direct the mirror directly at the sun, catch a sunbeam on the board and, bringing the board closer or further away from the mirror, find the point where this sunbeam will have minimum dimensions- a small dot. Gloves are needed in order to protect your hands from burns if they accidentally fall into the beam area. Well, when the focus point is found, it remains only to fix it and mount the necessary equipment.
Options self-manufacturing there are many solar concentrators. In the same way, you can make a Stirling engine from improvised materials yourself. And you can use this engine for a variety of purposes. How much imagination, desire and patience is enough.
Great amount free energy sun, water and wind and many other things that nature can give, people have been using for a long time. For some, this is a hobby, and someone cannot survive without devices that can extract energy “out of thin air”. For example, in African countries, solar panels have long become a saving companion for people, in arid villages solar-powered irrigation systems are being introduced, “solar” pumps are being installed on wells, etc.
AT European countries the sun does not shine so brightly, but the summer is quite hot, and it is a pity when the free energy of nature is wasted. Exist successful developments solar-powered ovens, but they use solid or prefabricated mirrors. Firstly, this is expensive, and secondly, it makes the structure heavier and therefore not always convenient in operation, for example, when a light weight of the finished concentrator is required.
An interesting model of a homemade parabolic solar concentrator was created by a talented inventor.
It does not require mirrors to make it, so it is very light and will not be a heavy load on a hike.
It takes very few things to create a homemade film-based solar concentrator. All of them are sold in any clothing market.
1. Self-adhesive mirror film. She has an even shiny surface and therefore is an excellent material for the mirror part of the solar oven.
2. Chipboard sheet and a hardboard sheet of the same size.
3. Thin hose and sealant.
How to make a solar oven?
First from chipboard of the size you need with a jigsaw, two rings are cut out, which must be glued to each other. The photo and video show one ring, but the author indicates that he later added a second ring. According to him, one could have been limited to one, but the space had to be increased to form a sufficient concavity of the parabolic mirror. Otherwise, the focus of the beam will be too far away. Under the size of the ring, a circle is cut out of hardboard to form rear wall solar concentrator.
The ring should be glued to the hardboard. Be sure to coat everything well with sealant. The design must be completely sealed.
On the side carefully so that they are smooth edges, make a small hole in which to firmly insert a thin hose. For tightness, the connection of the hose and the ring can also be treated with a sealant.
Stretch a mirror film over the ring.
Evacuate the air from the installation case and thus form a spherical mirror. Bend the hose and clamp with a clothespin.
Do convenient stand for the finished concentrator. The energy of this installation is enough to melt an aluminum can.
Attention! Parabolic solar reflectors can be dangerous and can cause burns and eye damage if not handled carefully!
Watch the process of making a solar stove in the video.
Used material from the site zabatsay.ru. How to make a solar battery -.
Ever since the beginning of our millennium, the possibility and ways of using energy sun rays cared for by the most outstanding minds of mankind. Even then, people perfectly understood that the celestial body named the Sun is a source of radiation of inexhaustible energy. However, no one figured out how to "tame" and use it to their advantage at that distant time. According to sources that have survived to this day, the writers of antiquity, Plutarch and Polybius, indicated that the person who first wrote the drawings with his own hand and assembled a working invention was Archimedes.
It was a device that, by means of some devices based on optics, concentrated the radiation of solar radiation into one powerful stream. Subsequently, the invention was used to destroy the imperial fleet of the Romans, who arrived with predatory goals.
At its core, the invention of a wise Greek engineer, which he assembled with his own hands, is the first parabolic concentrator based on solar energy created on planet Earth, the principle of which was to concentrate radiation in one small beam.
In the area affected by such a beam, the temperature level could reach from 300 to 400 degrees Celsius. Such energy, concentrated on the hull of any of the ships of the Roman navy (which at that time consisted entirely of wood), would have been enough to ignite a sea vessel. Today, one can only make assumptions about what specific invention Archimedes gave the world, but based on modern knowledge and ideas about technologies and achievements in this field of energy, there were only two possible options.
Let's start with the fact that the very name that the invention received is a solar concentrator, this name speaks for itself.
A lens convex on both sides is an example of a simple concentrator.
This is a device that, by capturing solar radiation by a certain bending of the surface, concentrates the rays at one point, achieving multiple indicators of an increase in energy. We all remember from our young past an ordinary lens, convex on both sides - this is an example of the simplest concentrator. In sunny weather, by adjusting the angle of incidence of the sun's radiation with your own hands, you could burn out on wooden surface or on paper everything that came to mind, any figure or inscription.
Such a lens belongs to the group of refractor concentrators. In addition to convex lenses, Fresnel lenses, which are a prism, also belong to the same group of concentrators. Long focus concentrators are assembled using so-called linear lenses. Such hubs are very inexpensive and easy to assemble with your own hands without the help of a qualified engineer (if you decide to do this, there are enough videos uploaded on the network, the request is homemade solar reflector). However, in practice they are used quite infrequently, one of the reasons for this is their rather large dimensions. Such concentrators, including home-made ones, are used in those places where the area and the space they occupy, which are not critical for its owner, allow it.
Such a disadvantage is absent in the prism concentrator of solar radiation. In addition, this equipment can partially concentrate a part of the diffusion radiation, thereby significantly increasing the power of the generated energy ray flux. The trihedral prism, with the use of which this mechanism is built, simultaneously performs the functions of both the initiator of the radiation of the point of concentration of the beam, and the reception of this radiation. In addition to everything, the rear face of the polyhedron reflects the energy flux received by the front face of solar radiation, and the side face is responsible for the emission of radiation. The principle of operation of this equipment is based on the mechanism of maximum reflective effect on the sun's rays until they hit the side face.
The reflective solar concentrator, in comparison with the refractor ones, functions by combining the energy of the beam of reflected solar radiation. Based on the shape of the structure, such concentrators are divided into subspecies and are called parabolic and parabolic. If you look at the coefficients useful action of these devices, then the parabolic concentrator will be the most powerful source of energy, it gives out up to 10 thousand units of concentration.
Parabolic concentrator delivers up to 10 thousand units of concentration
However, to create energy solar systems heat supply (especially for heating in winter) to a greater extent resort to the installation of parabolic or flat devices, besides, such a system is easy to mount with your own hands.
Solar concentrators their practical use and application
In principle, the main function of solar concentrators of any design is to collect the radiation coming from the sun and concentrate it at one point. To determine the scope of this energy is the choice of the owner of this equipment. Using completely free and renewable energy, it is possible to heat water for household and hygiene needs. The amount of water to be heated will depend only on the size of the plate and general design concentrator. Parabolic concentrators small sizes can be used as a cooking oven that will operate solely on concentrated solar radiation.
In winter, concentrators can be used as additional source sunlight for photovoltaic solar panels, thereby increasing their output power in conditions of lack of solar radiation.
Parabolic concentrators can be used as an oven for food preparation
In fact, the use of crystalline batteries to increase the efficiency is a pretty good idea, given the low cost of concentrators. Moreover, you will not need a patent for such a design. It will turn out a kind of homemade solar power supply system.
It is also possible to use the device as an autonomous source of energy for the Stirling engine (a patent for such an engine was obtained by its inventor a very long time ago). Concentrators of the parabolic group create a temperature in the range from 300 to 400 °C at the point of collection of sunlight.
If in the region of concentration of rays coming from a relatively small dish, put metal stand for dishes and place a kettle on it, you can easily boil water without using electricity. By placing the heater at the point of energy concentration, you will quickly heat up the running water in sufficient large volumes for further use in economic needs. You can water the garden, wash the dishes, take a shower.
By placing a Stirling engine correctly selected in terms of power in the focus of the beam, you will get a small thermal and electric station.
Stirling engines are designed to work in tandem with a solar concentrator
For example, one company called Qnergy has developed and filed a patent, launching the QB-3500 Stirling engines, which are designed specifically to work in tandem with a solar reflector concentrator. At its core, such a device can be considered an electric current generator, where the Stirling engine performs the main function. Note that such a system also requires batteries to store the energy received. Such a power plant produces an electric current with a power of 3500 watts. The output inverter produces a standard voltage of 220 volts, a frequency of 50 Hz. This power of electric current is enough for you to fully meet the needs of a house in which a family of four lives. The use of such batteries is effective for country house. The concentrator installed on your site will have appearance satellite dish without violating the external aesthetics.
By the way, one of the manufacturers registered a patent for a device where, using the principle of the Stirling engine, you can create a system that will basically operate a reciprocating or rotational movement (does not require the installation of batteries). An example of such a system is a water pump for a well or other purposes.
The parabolic concentrator must be systematically rotated to follow the rays of the sun as the earth rotates during the day
The main disadvantage that a parabolic concentrator has is that it must be systematically monitored by turning it in the direction of the sun's rays as the earth rotates during the day. Where concentrators are used in large thermal power plants in industrial scale, special systems for tracking the movement of the sun are additionally mounted to the group of batteries. Such systems rotate the mirrors following its movement. This guarantees a constant and efficient reception of the incoming solar radiation at the most effective angle. But the use of such equipment in private, most likely, will not be very appropriate, due to the fact that the acquisition costs will be much higher than the cost of a standard tripod-mounted reflector.
How to make a solar radiation concentrator yourself?
To study this issue, one can refer to the experience of the inventor from Vladivostok, Yuri Rylov, who has a patent for the heating system. For a long time now its great Vacation home, total area which is more than 400 square meters, is fully heated on the basis of a battery system, where the coolant is heated by a solar concentrator.
Yury Rylov's concentrator works more than twice as efficiently as solar panels
The entire system, for which he received a patent as a result, was developed by the craftsman himself. Its concentrator works more than twice as efficiently as solar panels.
There are a number of reasons for this, one of them is the system of concentrators, for which the inventor received a patent, it accumulates the energy of almost the entire incoming spectrum of solar radiation. The next reason is that the system was supplemented with a sun tracking mechanism (given the scope of the equipment in this case, this may be justified).
However, problems arose with the introduction of the system into mass production. Under the created device, more than five years ago, the inventor received a patent Russian Federation, but so far it has not received wide industrial distribution. This is rather strange, since according to Rylov, his concentrator allows you to heat the entrance of the house on five floors, providing it hot water. For eight hours of operation, the equipment heats up a cubic meter of water. During the same time, the concentrator will produce 80 kW of electricity. In addition, the inventor faced the problem of protecting intellectual property on Russian territory. It is necessary to deal with fixing the ownership of your device in those countries where it is possible to establish such production, officials do not help to obtain a patent abroad.
Most easy way to assemble your own homemade hub - this is to make it based on an old satellite dish
So, the easiest way to build your own homemade hub is to make it based on an old satellite dish. Before assembling the mechanism, determine the purpose of its use, and then select the location of the concentrator. Thoroughly clean the antenna and attach a reflective film to the working side.
For even laying of the film and to avoid possible wrinkles, cut the film into strips no larger than fifty millimeters. If you decide to use the concentrator as a solar oven, it will be better when you make a hole about 70 millimeters in diameter in the central part of the dish. Pass the fastening of the food container through it. The device guarantees a fixed position of the container with the heated object during the turns of the device behind the sun.
If you only have a plate with a small diameter at your disposal, it is worth cutting the tape into strips of 100 millimeters. Each strip must be glued separately, carefully and accurately aligning the joints.
When you have finished pasting the reflective element, determine where the point of concentration of the rays is. This must be done because the shape of the dish often does not guarantee the coincidence of the focal point and the location of the signal receiving head.
Homemade solar concentrator oven
To begin with, it is worth identifying the place of concentration, for this, put on Sunglasses. Take wooden board and thick mittens. Point the reflector towards the sun and focus the captured rays on the board, then adjust the distance until you get the most efficient, concentrated beam of energy, do this until you get its smallest size. The mittens you wear will protect your skin from sunburn, if you accidentally place your hands in the area of focus of the rays. After you determine the concentration point, you will only have to fix the structure and finish its installation in optimal location. As they say in inventor circles, "The only thing left to do is get a patent." Use the results of your work, getting an inexhaustible and free source of energy.
Stirling engine can be assembled using improvised, common materials
There are many options for manufacturing concentrators based on solar radiation. In the same way, you yourself, using improvised, common materials, can assemble a Stirling engine (it is really possible, although, at first glance, it seems unattainable), and you can use the capabilities of this engine for a variety of purposes for a long time. All restrictions depend only on your patience and imagination.
Details Published: 10/12/2015 08:32
Free step by step guide contains all necessary information to create a do-it-yourself solar concentrator with a power of 0.5 kW. The reflective surface of the device will have an area of about 1 square meter, and the cost of its production will cost from $79 to $145, depending on the region of residence.
Sol1, the name given to the solar installation from GoSol, will take approximately 1.5 cubic meters space. Work on its manufacture will take about a week. Iron corners, plastic boxes, steel bars will serve as materials for its construction, and the main working element - a reflective hemisphere - is proposed to be made from pieces ordinary mirror bathrooms.
The solar concentrator can be used for baking, frying, heating water or food preservation through dehydration. The device can also serve as a demo effective work solar energy and will help many entrepreneurs in developing countries to start their own business. In addition to helping to reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere, GoSol solar concentrators will help reduce deforestation by replacing burned wood with clean solar energy.
The GoSol instruction can be used not only to create and practical application, but also for the sale of solar concentrators, which will help to significantly lower the threshold for access to solar energy, which is mainly generated today through photovoltaic solar panels. Their cost remains extremely high level in regions where it is often simply not possible to obtain energy in other ways.
A free solar concentrator manual is available on the GoSol website, and to receive it you will need to leave your email address to which updated information will be sent. If you want the "solar" initiative to move faster and on a larger scale, then you can support the company financially - the startup still accepts cash contributions, the reward for which will depend on the amount of the donation.