The interchange of ideas related to the production of natural energy.
Heliostat (mirror) based concentrator solar collectors.
Solar trackers.
Electric vehicles (battery powered).
Pneumatic vehicles (compressed air powered).
Hybrid vehicles.
Neat patents.
interests Interests I have many interests ranging from amateur radio and astronomy to auto racing and mechanics. One general thread is the use of electronics and computers to devise low cost smart solutions to many of the problems I encounter.information Heliostat Information.
definitions SOLAR DEFINITIONS:
HELIOSTAT or CENTRAL RECEIVER SYSTEM:
1. A heliostat is, generally, a two axis solar tracking flat mirror that reflects sunlight onto a fixed receiver or target.
2. Furthermore, the geometry between the Sun, Mirror, and Receiver are constantly changing throughout the day.
2a. There is a special case, the type 1 coelostats, where light is sent along the polar axis where the geometry is approximately fixed throughout the day and parabolic concentration can be used. scheffler See the Scheffler Reflector.
3. In general the mirror is aimed normal to the bisector between the sun and receiver.
Many mistakenly call "Direct Solar Trackers", such as Dishes, Troughs, and Lenses heliostats. They are not. Generally, these things are aimed directly at the Sun which violates #2 above.
mechanical Early Mechanical Heliostats and Coelostats
And some modern ones for illustration. heliostats
Heliostats, generally, reflect light onto a stationary target.
They cover a range of devices such as Coelostats and Siderostats.
However, we usually consider heliostats as having 1 mirror with coelstats having 2 or more mirrors.
Note! The distinguishing difference between the Foucault and Gambay heliostats is:
1. The Foucault drive bar is oriented normal (perpendicular) to the mirror's plane surface.
2. The Gambay drive bar is oriented parallel to the mirror's plane surface.
coelostattype1 Type 1 coelostat:
1. Rotate the main mirror once in 24 hours around the polar axis directly in Right Ascension.
2. The main mirror has a seasonal "Tilt" in DEClination to reflect the sunlight along the polar axis.
3. The secondary mirror, if used, reflects light in any desired direction away from the polar axis.
3. The primary mirror needs to be about 2.6 times as wide as the desired beam width.
4. The double mirror heliostat was invented by Young in 1807 and re-inventer by Müller in 1894.
It was then produced commercially by Max Kohl in about 1906 and a little later by Hilger.
coelostattype2 Type 2 coelostat:
1. Rotate the main mirror once in 48 hours around the polar axis in Right Ascension.
2. The main mirror in not tilted at all. The plane of the mirror is parallel with the polar axis. Sunlight is reflected away from the polar axis at an angle equal to the suns seasonal DEClination.
3. The secondary mirror is positioned to reflect light in any desired direction. This mirror has a seasonal positional movement as well as a seasonal tilt. (Note! The diagram says the secondary is fixed but it isn't. Either the main or secondary mirror mount must be moved to adjust the geometry seasonally.)
4. The primary mirror has a width of about 1.1 times as wide as the desired beam width. The width of the secondary mirror is similar in width but is also dependent on the direction where the light is sent.
coelostattype3 Type 3 coelostat:
1. The Type 3 Coelostat has the main and secondary mirrors set to exactly 45 degrees.
2. Rotate the main mirror once in 24 hours around the polar axis directly in Right Ascension. Note! This sends the light directly along the polar axis.
3. The secondary mirror has a seasonal "Rotate" in DEClination to reflect the sunlight along the polar axis.
4. The tertiary mirror, if used, reflects light in any desired direction away from the polar axis.
5. All mirrors have a width of about 1.4 times as wide as the desired beam width. The width of the tertiary mirror width is highly dependent on the direction where the light is sent.
National Solar Thermal Test Facility. (T Pole Design) Solar II Central Receiver. (T Pole Design) esolar ESolar Central Receiver. (T Pole Design) practicalsolar Practical Solar, Inc. (T Pole Design) clfr Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) (CLFR Design)
The University of Sydney School of Physics
This is the new kid on the block.
An interesting variation of a heliostat using linear movable mirror strips. This concept only tracks in one axis. In this case I believe it satisfies the definition of a heliostat because the second axis movement is not required. Movement of the image does occur along the line of the stationary receiver.
A truly new and unique design. This has the potential to make large heliostat systems truly cost effective. The design is highly scalable. In other words as the size goes up the component cost to power ratio, $/W, actually goes down. T Pole heliostat costs go up as size increases mainly due to exponentially increasing bending moments in high winds.
The "Compact" part of the CLFR, of which they got their patent, stems from the method they use to aim the mirrors at one of two receivers at different times of the day. hdsolar HelioDynamics (LFR) Design
"LFR", Linear Fresnel Reflector, instead of CLFR because each mirror always aims at a single line receiver. hinge Hinge (Hinge design) receiveraxis Receiver Axis (Receiver Axis design) (Can be called "Receiver Axis", "Target Axis", "Spinning Elevation", "Spin Elevation", "Spin Tilt", or "Rotation Elevation" heliostat mount.) Heliotrack Solar Heliostat: A device capable of reflecting sunshine to a stationary target throughout the day.(Receiver Axis Design)
dish DISH:
A dish is a two axis solar tracking mirror that reflects sunlight onto a receiver, often circular in shaped, that is in alignment with the sun and the central axis of the mirror. Sandia Dish
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borealis * Borealis Power Technology They hold patents on an exciting now type of electric power generation technology called Power Chips.
They operate on the electron thermionic emmmision principal.
See: * Borealis on my patent page.
mrsolar * Mr. Solar.
Your contact point for information, products and services about every aspect of solar, wind & water power. * PV panels sorted by power.
led3 redrok tracker * Red Rock Energy
I make a simple, low cost, single axis electronic solar tracker based on using green LEDs as light sensors.
dew * Dew Point, dew.exe
I have a useful program for calculating and converting between Dew Point, Relative Humidity, and Ambient Temperature.
Click on this line to download the program.
focallength Parabolic Focal Length Calculations
The focal length and image size of a parabola can be calculated with some simple measurements.
Measure the Radius distance of the parabola from the rim to the central axis and Depth of the dish.
R = Radius
D = Depth
FL = Focal Length
S° = Solar diameter in degrees of arc. About 0.5°
I = Ideal Image Size formed by a perfect parabola.
Example:
The Radius of a 10' satellite dish in inches = 60"
Depth = 21"
R^2 / (D * 4) = FL
60"^2 / (21" * 4) = 42.9" Focal Length
TAN(S° / 2) * 2 * FL = I
TAN(0.5° / 2) * 2 * 42.9" = 0.37" in diameter
Of course a real 10' satellite dish is not nearly
that perfect. They have a focal zone diameter of
about 3".
The rule of thumb is the Ideal Image diameter of
the Sun is about 1% of the Focal Length.
teton * Teton Engineering Inc.
A Tracking Solar Concentratorfor for the home experimenter.
This concentrator, based on 1 square foot mirror tiles, is the first solar system I studied. It was, I think, the one presented in Mother Earth News many years ago.
ra * Ra Energy FDN
The Solar Hydrogen Economy is the Gandhi strategy, the missing part to civilization's greater puzzle and the key to the elusive paradigm shift. Raleigh Myers <ramyers@igc.org> describes an interesting off axis parabolic trough constructed from concrete.
newton * C. Christopher Newton
This is a beautiful example of a Solar Dish Steam Turbine Electric Generator.
This was his masters thesis project.
Attached is a copy of his thesis paper which is on a concentrated solar thermal steam system.
In the appendices of the paper, you will find the diagrams for the steam turbine.
With the proper amount of steam supplied, the turbine is capable of 5 hp.
axel * Axel's Helioworm Heliostat.
Helioworm - DIY Heliostat drive with self made worm gear.
The worm gear wheel is made from the white plastic of a cutting board.
The stepper motors and the gears are taken from an old printer.
All moving parts and the control electronics are located in the housing and are the weather proof.
The control unit is based on an Atmel Mega168 micro controller. Electronic board and control program.
practical * Practical Solar, Inc.
They have developed a new, proprietary concentrating solar power system (CSP system) to harness energy from the sun:
a small-scale heliostat system that can direct up to 300 square meters of sunlight onto a single square meter. This concentrated solar energy can be used to produce heat, light and power for a virtually unlimited number of applications, at only a fraction of the cost of other solar technologies.
heliotrack * Helio Track
Solar Heliostat: A device capable of reflecting sunshine to a stationary target throughout the day.
This is an example of a "receiver axis" heliostat.
* "Justin Bruen " <sales@heliotrack.comm>
gerst * Leo Gerst's Heliostats.
This is an example of an "in line" solar tracker driving a "T Pole" heliostat.
homeheliostat * Home Heliostat
This is a bit hard to categorize.
It has a sensor section that operates essentially as a "Receiver Axis" mount where
the sensors aim directly at the sun. The mirrors are mounted on "Azimuth Altitude"
axes. There is a gimbaled linkage between the two.
The area is about 1/2 square meter and reflects up to about 400 watts of light.
Ok, actually about 200 watts of visible and 200 watts of infrared light.
That's equivalent to about 3000 watts of electrically driven incandescent light bulbs.
Cool, and costs about $400us.
* <sales@homeheliostat.com>
poulek
* Traxle Poulek Solar
Polar mount with tracker.
One of my competiters.
living
* Living On Solar Jim Eddy has a Polar Axis Solar Tracker based on a TV antenna rotator, it's controller box, and a Sony remote control.
He has complete plans on how to do it.
Cool idea!!!
sunenergy
* Sun Energy Sun Energy is based in Minnesota. Owner Jerry Lilyerd attended Iowa's first Annual Energy Fair in 1990 and found himself hooked for life. He then attended and helped at many subsequent energy fairs during the next 4 years. After realizing that his personal 'hobby' had him working full-time, Jerry founded Sun Energy in 1994. He had been installing solar and inverter systems, as well as working full-time at NSP (Northern States Power). Jerry reports that he has been booked solid ever since!
All of Sun Energy's business comes from referrals. Jerry and his experienced team of energy professionals handle small to large installations-commercial and residential. <lilyerd@gmail.com>
fusionseeker * Fusion Seeker
Solar Tracker Controllers. These are "single axis" and "dual axis" FUSIONSEEKER solar trackers. They can be used in all applications that need solar tracking (solar panel trackers, water heating solar collectors, any sort of solar concentrators, daylighting systems, etc).
Made in Slovenia.
One of my competiters.
siaelectric * SIA Electric
Solar Tracker that is a close copy of my LED3X made with a PIC microcontroller.
Made in Romania.
One of my competiters.
solarelectronica * Solar Electronica
"The SOLARTRACK is a microcontroller-based system, ECU (Electronic Control Unit), which has been designed to follow up on two axes with high precision.
It is suitable for all types of PV or CPV modules, including photovoltaic panels, concentration systems and heliostats.
The control modules, working in close loop, calculate the position of the Sun, Elevation and Azimuth, with a precision less than 0.01 °, by means of a patented solar sensor designed by us."
Made in Mallorca, Spain.
One of my competiters.
CampaTracka.com * CampaTracka
Dave Harvey makes solar trackers loosly based on my LED5 low power solar trackers.
He uses mechanical relays to increase output current to 3 amps.
<dave@campatracka.com>
One of my competiters.
mtm * MTM Scientific, Inc
Solar tracker kit.
They uses mechanical relays to increase output current to 3 amps.
Basicly for school and light duty applications
One of my competiters.
sbe * SBE, LLC
Single axis tracking systems for light duty applicationd.
They use LED type sensors circuits similar to thoes I developed.
One of my competiters.
solener * SOLENER TRACKING SYSTEMS
One and two axis tracking systems which are now entering the stage of commercialisation. Grid-connected system incorporating two-axis tracking systems and high wind-speed protection.
envirotech * Envirotech's SSI-200W Grid-Tied Inverter
SSI, Smart Sine-wave Inverter.
Rated at 200W. However, it is not UL approved yet.
$289us
This inverter connects between a PV panel, or other power source, and the 120V 60Hz grid. It operates the PV panel at the MPPT, Max Power Point Tracking, mode to get the most energy transfer per day.
jade * Jade Mountain
Appropriate Technology For Sustainable Living
Over 6000 Products Professional Experience Since 1972.
nesea * NESEA
Northeast Renewable Energy Association aims to strengthen the economy and improve the environment by bringing clean electricity, green transportation, and healthy, efficient buildings into everyday use.
mrea * Midwest Renewable Energy Association
Their Mission: The Midwest Renewable Energy Association is a nonprofit network for sharing ideas, resources, and information with individuals, businesses, and communities to promote a sustainable future through renewable energy and energy efficiency.
ases * American Solar Energy Society
is a national organization dedicated to advancing the use of solar energy for the benefit of U.S. citizens and the global environment.
energyplus * EnergyPlus
EnergyPlus is a new building energy simulation program for modeling building heating, cooling, lighting, ventilating, and other energy flows.
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Archimedes in ancient Syracuse.
National Solar Thermal Test Facility. (T Pole Design)
Solar II Central Receiver. (T Pole Design)
ESolar Central Receiver. (T Pole Design)
Practical Solar, Inc. (T Pole Design)
HelioDynamics (LFR) Design
Hinge (Hinge design)
Receiver Axis (Receiver Axis design)
Heliotrack Solar Heliostat: A device capable of reflecting sunshine to a stationary target throughout the day.(Receiver Axis Design)
Sandia Dish
Sandia North-South Horizontal Axis Trough(Horizontal)
Polar Axis Trough(Polar Axis)
Ron Smith's Polar Axis Trough(Polar Axis)
Sandia Solar Furnace. (T Pole Design)
Four Solaire Solar Furnace. (T Pole Design)
Odeillo Solar Furnace. (T Pole Design)
Heliostat design concepts 960301.
SunFlower's 35 year Dish Concentrator History
