Sterling Dish 500MW solar power plant

One of the few critical uses of electricity is for refrigeration of perishable foods. Even this could be obviated by the low-cost irradiation of foods. When one considers the pollution and extraction costs of fossil fuels, solar looks better and better. In a way, our cheap non-renewables are actually forcing the development of extremely efficient solar alternatives. It may not be entertaining, and no one will give you a medal for it, but anyone can cut his or her energy use!

Less of an eyesore than chimneys pumping out smoke or cities polluted with smog. They're not that ugly, and they're not noisey. The fact is humans use a lot of energy and that is not likely to change, so we've got to pay the price one way or another.

You're right, heat has to be removed but it's been done.

Multiple 35kw PV dishes have been powering towns in Aust since 2003. The difference is a dish PV uses 1/1000th the PV material used in a Flat plate system of the same power.

The removed heat can also be used in generate &/or heat systems.

put a pv instead of that sterling engine and it will melt. thats what makes sterling engines more effecient cost wise

I thought Stirling's efficiency was higher It seems that concentrated PV would be more efficient, especially in the long run…since no mechanical components are involved.

About the same as any other internal combustion engine, between 15 and 30% comparable to PV cells.

The concetrating dish makes all the difference. There are dishes like this that use PV cells at the focal point instead of sterling motors that each generate 25kw and are being used in outback Australia to power small towns.

What's the efficiency of a stirling motor? (in % of sun energy converted into electricity).

seems like you could do a similar thing with geothermal and get power 24 hours 365 days a year

If people thought in terms of setting one of these up on their property, they'd realize that 20,000 of these isn't very much, if they're spread out!

What maintenance? It's not like you have to dump a 10,000 ton train load of coal into it daily.

is this expensive to maintain?

these are promising the only drawback are dust collecting on mirrors and parts in sterling motors wearing out and losing efficiency

Yeah well some people live in apartments or crowded areas where that option aint possible…

do have a mini version heat and electrical power

have the mini version prototype now

have a mini version prototype and would cost 3000 materials and generate 2000 watts contact

a field with 20,000 dishes? it's a great idea, but maybe a bit of an eyesore. idk what to think on that one.

this big power stations should really be dropped.. The whole thing is that they still want to sell us power day to day.

One of those can power 25 houses.. So a much smaller one could power my home and I wouldn't need to pay any more power bills.

Also building a giant farm to power the cities is a logistical bureaucratic cluster fuck, with a great deal of waste through middle men, taxes, construction, zoning laws, etc. etc.

It makes way more sense for everyone to have their own small one..

How about a miniature version of this, for every home?

Fair enough but why not factor in the maintenance and cost of the fuel supply for both?

The Queens plant runs on natural gas, LNG doesn't just fall out of the sky and I'd be amazed if there was a natural gas well directly under the plant in queens. So there's massive supply infrastructure that is under pressure at all times.

How long is that supply line? Where does the LNG come from?

I **** to throw cold water on the idea, but 20,000 units sounds like a maintenance nightmare. And 500 MW is how much a small power plant might put out. One generator in Queens puts out 700 MW. The whole plant puts out more than 1500 MW. The Queens plant has the advantage of being right next to the load. There are no line losses or power lost to phase shifting. This plan looks like it is miles away from the load.

i bet the oil companies have bought these guys out by now and them devices are dismantled.

well we'll see what choice the masses will make if they will be forced to choose between protection from the state and living responsibly and independently

pupplesan you are an idiot and a pessimist to the extreme. We need to move away from non-renewable resources and harness the limitless energies that are availabe for us. Those who hold the money, and therefore the power, do not want this to succeed. And if you think that corporate corruption do not exist in something as important as enrgy then you need a slap in the face of reality. Bateries are not a joke; big energy companies in the world hold patents on the most promising battery designs.

Alternative energy is not nearly cost-effective… yet. The fact is that 'grid' electricity is pretty damned cheap and is not derived from petroleum. Mine-mouth coal, hydro-electric and nuclear power North America.
No, the growing crisis lies with petroleum to power internal combustion engines. There is simply no better fuel for vehicles. Nothing even comes close. Batteries are a joke, flywheels are dangerous. The only long-term solution seems to be hydrogen, but that will cost trillions.