World Record Setting Solar Parabolic Dish Stirling System, 1984 

and after 30 years ...... we still see these things only on youtube

I looked for Byron Washom and what happened to him. His is now Director of Strategic Energy Initiatives in Universty of San Diego. Great for him.

I get the impression the company made the mistake of trying to sell Vangards to electrical companies in the hope they would buy hundreds in one go rather than sell individual Vangards to farmers and off grid villages.

23% efficiency in 83-84 is pretty good! Make it today and I bet you could 25-30% and that would rival the better solar panels out there. Yes a bit more maintenance, and the initial cost might be higher but you could drive it with a computer that costs about 5$ today and with really efficient servos/solenoids (or whatever). In the 80's that solar tracking computer was probably 5k usd alone and so on...

Nageshwar, I continue to apply my efforts in distributed energy resources and am employed at the University of California San Diego. You might Google UCSD and microgrid to learn more. Thank you for your question. - Byron Washom

i guess the prize killed it and now pv-panels have caught up in power density, but it´s still noteworthy that these thing don´t reguire much of toxic materials and can basically built out of steel and glass

I think there are many DIYers wanting to do just that, the means are available, the materials are cheap and common! Making it domestic instead of industrial would reduce the joule effect losses that large distribution grids generate, less power per unit, more units, but less losses to distribute Electricity. As many small domestic generators as needed to charge pools of reclaimed lead acid batteries, feeding homes and workplaces's utilities through inverters is a credible path to fuel autonomy!

Dan:When you have 1500 lbs canterlevered at the focal point, two 3/4 hp drive motors tracking to .1 milliradian and a radiator for the Stirling engine, and an emergency slew system, the parasiitic power all added up to 8% of the gross power produced. One would offsset by the addittional harvest of the daily DNI in two axis rather than single axis or non-tracking (no cosine losses). The net energy efficiency of 29.4% of DNI to electricity to the grid remained unsurpassed for 24 yr. - Byron Washom

It is unfortunate that this technology is still playing only a marginal role nearly 30 years later, due to the lap dogs of the oil, gas and coal industry. One day I wish to see hundreds of thousands of these lined up in our deserts to supply the entire country with clean power.

There are actually solar farms that use this concept. However, they dwarf this thing. There are rows and rows of panels focusing light on a single tower. To give you an idea of the scale, the tower is several stories tall.

This is amazing I wish could get a home model.

Nice. Amazing that they are even bigger now days.

32 dishes can produce 800kw . that means 25kh each units. that is insane , amazing and awesome right? why we dont have this on our home yet? a 5 kw dish should be enought

I have heard about this marvel years ago but not in so many details. 25KW of power is amazing. (Hydrogen used in Stirling engines as the fluid?)..... But with the fusion of Rankine engines and technologies offered by new environmentally safe fluoro-hydrocarbons, this marvel will be made practical for use if the power and cost is brought down to 10 KW for farm use with storage. Power & Water are the two important necessities for earthly living.

So I missed HOW they handle those 6000F/3000C degrees if even metals evaporate

Dan, The area of the dish is 1000 sq ft operating in wind loads up in the 20-30 mph range. Plus you have a canter levered weight of 1500 lbs at the focal pt that is one of the greatest concentrations of sunlight on the face of the earth. We only used two 3/4 hp motors to drive the system with 3 milliradian tracking accuracy. If you think you can accomplish this in watts, you should earnest pursue your invention.

For large scale projects a Solar Island (Google!) could be used and, at night, the Stirling Generator could use fuels to power it. Solar heat could also be stored in molten salt tanks.

Explain in detail the components of the solar dish collector head, its reflectors, and the steam hoses.

Mr. Washom, What is the difference in efficiency in comparison to photovoltaic solar cells?

For those of you curious as to what I have been up to the past 12 years, I have served as Director of Strategic Energy Initiatives at UC San Diego. Here is a video of our accomplishments. Onward, Byron Washom ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Nd0HMN481N4.html

Perfect for a lot get started

I keep hearing about photovoltaics in the comments. Don't get me wrong photovoltaics are very good but are not for everyone. The two technologies both have their pros and cons. As for those who keep saying solar sterling is expensive. Well lol photovoltaic is also tremendously expensive . A 3kw pv system will run you well over 8 grand. That's part one. Two , is that that number 3 kw is when all conditions are perfect. Every solar enthusiast knows that pv's drop under 50% production in power when they get hot . Three, they are more space consuming than solar thermal. To be fair to pv's they make no noise, and can blend beautifully with the roof. If I lived in a suburbs I would get a off grid pv system hands down, had I the money. I presently own a small 300 w pv system that I have attached to a battery bank of 3 kw to run my aquaponics pumps and computer, so I'm actually a fan of pv. I know all too well the shortcomings of a pv system. Now onto the solar thermal. The real problem here is not that it's so expensive, it's that it undergoes two conversions from thermal to mechanical, from mechanical to electrical encountering losses along the way. The second problem is while its not too loud it still can be heard. To be fair to the s.t since its seeking heat and not light, a supplemental heat system can be utilized to produce power at night( you don't need 600+c° to produce electricity). In closing these are two different systems. One converts light to electricity, the other converts heat. I don't care which one makes a break through I just care that they do. Pv's only make one conversion and even at that are very inefficient at only 11-17%. And sterling are very technical and not easy to make( another reason for a steep price). It's not beneficial to get emotionally invested in a particular technology and become a die hard advocate for it, then attack every idea you don't like......that's the reason we suffer from oil tycoon tyranny right now. Rather let people do their own thing and if it works wonderful if not on to the next thing.

Some would say it was 'Bought & Buried'. Just like the National Enquirer does. But Solar Panels are far more simple.

Unfassbar - vor 37 Jahren über 90% und heute ist man in der Photovoltaik stolz auf 30%.

You misinterpret the statement of 8% of the energy generated for parasitic power. The parasitic power included the tracking of 1500 lb Stirling Engine canter levered at the focal point with a tracking accuracy of 3 milliradians in 20 mph wind. Plus the radiator fan load for the Stirling Engine, system control instrumentation, and the emerging slew system in case of grid outage. And that's why the net energy conversion efficiency of 29.4% of solar to grid remained unsurpassed for 24 yrs.

the external combustion is the sun or fuelled flame. thus the name

What rpm did you run those motors at and what gear ratio? and did they run continuously?

What is the cost of installed unit ?? These are not setup and forget machines, meaning, they are not suitable for private use.

some people don't understand how pv works. you can totally use "pv" as the mirrors. the pv will absorb the smaller wavelengths and, with the correct coating, can reflect the longer wavelengths, i.e. heat. before you call someone stupid make sure your not sounding stupid... jerk

I thought I invented this a year ago...then I find out it was invented THE YEAR I WAS BORN??? Why aren't people using these to power everything? It's actually pretty cheap to make something like this. The mirrors are 1000x cheaper than solar panels, steam engines are pretty damn cheap to build, and the most expensive part would be the batteries for storing power. I get that humans are greedy af but it's even cheap to make so it would probably be a profitable thing to do..

Very true, people think the southwest is the only place for solar but here in Michigan it is just as good because they run cooler even in winter sun they have great output. Keeping them below 70 degrees I think is best but I have no idea what the best OP temp is. Of course a cooling fan or water spray would cost part of that energy. Allowing them to run too hot will decrease there life. Batteries I find are a problem keeping alive for much more than year. Do you have any facts about desulfators?

So gross output is about 32% net is 29.4 thats fantastic! Do you mean conversion efficiency before transformer output or point of use?

hello brother... can you please post the circuit diagram of the tracking system u used?

I live very close to several wind turbine farms in Oregon, and Washington. I do not know why these solar dishes are not also integrate into this system. In Arlington Oregon, and try-cities Washington hace lots os sun. I think that this could increases power output in these places.

1984!!! today 2014 en today nothing!!!

Byron, Is your system only a technology demonstrator? Are you ever going to be open to production units? With the loss of SES, and now last week Infinia solor filled chap 11. It seams that solar stirling keeps getting knocked down. Maybe it should be released on the residential scale and not just targeting utility level farms. I know my self if I had a choice in buying PVP and CSP I would pick solar stiring.

Serious question and thank you for your time, pardon my ignorance please. Why are large sheet magnifiers never used in this type of generator? Also given the advances in circuitry, p.c. cooling systems, and microturbines (M.I.T) why can this system not be miniaturized to say the size of a home satellite dish and installed on homes?

You might want to read what I was replying too before commenting... ESPECIALLY if you plan to label the person as an idiot. They were claiming that this technology was never used. I was just pointing out that someone took this idea and moved forward with it. Not only did they move forward with this idea but they have done it in a BIG way. The wild thing is that you seem to be agreeing with me. There is nothing like someone calling themselves an idiot without even realizing it... lol.

It's mind boggling how much they subsidize PV over this tech...

Is this technology ali/ advanced since then? Or it dissapeared together with the inventors ?

I hate idiots who say nothing and sound like 'mine is bigga'. This device in an array would accomplish the same. The principle is there. ...and arrays are space consuming and all fall when the cloud comes by. Separate units spread out strategically, safer, less hogging of the land as they can be installed on existing structures, less of a need for high-power lines(if any at all) to spread the energy! Also tactically safer in case of war damage, and so on and on and on. You still feel big?!

This must have been terribly expensive. Yesterday I visited a cousin, he has solar panels on his house, he told me yesterday that his daily gain was that day 24 kW. That is the same amount of energy for a fraction of the costs.

WOW! We could use these engines to pump more oil.

It's a really cool technology, but expensive. In the 80ies, it was maybe a real competitor to solar cells. But nowadays, photovoltaics is probably the much cheaper solar power.

The nwo will never allow the sheep to be independent.

Interesting. You can now get about 3000 degrees for FREE from an old TV's Fresnel lens that is flat and about two pounds and 4 foot by three foot, and it call follow the sun with simple parts from an electronics store for around $30-50 bucks. I bet this was over a million. But hey, it is awesome they were trying before it was all figured out! Major Kudos!

I'm not misinterpreting anything. He states that is uses 8% of the power for tracking the sun. That can be done better. Think about the power on that area compared to the speed. It's so slow that you can't see its movement. it should only take a couple of watts.

23% efficiency for solar power was pretty good for 1984

Hi can a regular person buy one of these?

Was... What happened to this company? & The Vanguard?

We can do it in Portugal, its the best way to maky energie. Cam the Stirling Energye Inc., sale this in Portugal.

The higher the temperature the higher the potential efficiency. There is no reason why the dish should not be covered with suitably wired solar cells which would also act as reflectors to provide heat at the focus where a heat pipe would link the focus to the Stirling motor at the back of the dish. Alternately thermoelectric modules could be used instead of the Stirling motor which would operate at their optimum temperature gradient through another self-regulating mechanism. They could be attached to the rear of the dish thus absorbing any heat from the back of the solar cells. In fact given some silicon fabrication know-how it should be possible to integrate the thermoelectric cells together with the solar cells thus keeping them cool and so increasing their efficiency.

What is vangarde website

I left my wallet in El Segundo

This technology is good to be used in a hot desert,

Sterling engine from solar heat. Great. Using steam engine technology over 200 years old using mirror array over 2000 years old.

8KW/h out of every 100KW/h of energy converted to track the sun with a massive dish like that isn't that unreasonable.

Can I buy a system??

instead of records, shouldnt we concentrate on practicality and costs. Not just the cost of system but the cost of maintenance and longivity too,,,,and perhaps the photovoltaic cell are becoming winner. a mechanical system almost certainly gives regular breakdowns and has limited life span whereas if there are no movements it can go on and on............well curious what is going to win...but this engine is what attracts me

Take into account the date of this video, the mass involved! Even balanced to avoid needing colossal torque, you still need to counter inertia. The processing power needed is feeble, and can now be done on a single chip instead of a dedicated computer. Lighter materials, better bearings and motors and this 1984 apparatus could get better! Yet, If 92% of the solar power received is converted to electricity, this is COLOSSAL, today's photovoltaic cells are way LESS efficient than this!

Cool story bro

Hey.....i would like to have a Solar Company that build large Satellites with curved mirrors....these Satellites would work on electricity so their fully autonomous and "mirrored" light back to produce electricity..

Read the definition of inertia! Specifically inertial mass: F=ma The force you impart is a product of the acceleration (meagre), and the mass, Tons! If the conversion efficiency is in the more plausible realm of around 30%, parasitic power used for tracking is 8% of ~30%: 0.08*30=2.4% 2.4 % of the peak received energy to track is not THAT bad, not good, yet not delirious! This puts the actual efficiency of a 30yo device in the 25 to 27% range, compared to ~21% for current photovoltaic cells!

Stirling engine are not external combustión engines since there is not combustión at all.

WHO cleans the mirrors ?

1984

if the reflective surface contain silicon cells they can supply the power to run the system could b checked for feasibility

AH... silly us thinking that a product like this would be fast tracked into use. With the power companies in control solar and wind power are not as sexy as nuclear and coal.

I think with 336 mirrors you CAN NOT have more than 336:1 concentration. And probably you obtain far less than that. Anyway, excellent work, congratulations.

Puts eu penssei que essa ideia ninguem ainda tinha tido mais fui surprendido tenho projetos tambem de comecar a fazer essas antenas e vendelas por uma fracao dos atuais carissimos paineis solares

I am watching now on 2021😂

This might be interesting to read: ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19840020173.pdf There're some point to optimize in this engine, which imo lead to that low efficiency (perhaps not too low for 1984, but for today standards)

Wow...

High definition in 1984.

Try to understand how slowly it moves. Go outside, look at a shadow. See its blistering motion.. there is no inertia and you never counter what little is there. and we are not talking about 92% efficient conversion. that's a misunderstanding.

Put glass bilding around it.you get lot more heat.

all those electronics at 4:25 can be replaced with an arduino

btw solar panels are just so much better than a mechanical system

I want one....but like a MW one of those....I mean why not get paid for adding a little extra power on the grid....

i dont know how practical it would be for line voltage on the earths surface, but i bet those boys from nasa were tickled over that thing and probably bought hard into it (if they didnt have it already), it seems like space would be much more practical place for it, still, very cool, thanks for the upload.

If Jimmy Carter had been reelected, petroleum would be past tense as we speak.

Tell the world!!!

It's more efficient to run my washing machine directly off of mechanical power, rather than converting mechanical power to electrical power then back to mechanical power again.

the reason these are not seen everywhere is that they are too costly to build. even if they reduce the size to something the average homeowner can use, the cost is still prohibitive. for what it would cost to purchase one of their systems that will break down in a few years, he can buy coal powered electricity from the utility company for the rest of his life!

I'm so curieus if such would work in space, powering and heating/cooling the ISS would seem childsplay with such a construction. Much easier to maintain but might blast itself out of orbit ? Maybe even blasting tornado's ... freewheeling here so my apologies for any stupdity.

Looks expensive to me,maybe thats why we dont see them?

What happened?!

Hey....can we put some of this in space near the space station.............

what vangard why youare not gone full fredge so maneyyears sitted sailent

Please send email for business.

92% efficient... my ass!

Company is dissolved

hey not 30 yet

that 8% number is wrong. and if its not wrong then this thing makes no power and is very inefficient. (it was 1984)

. that was a very odd day indeed Seconded only to Tesla's flipping The Hydro Electric Power Switch in the 1800', none of the numbers could be agreed upon yet Only The Disbelievers were not surprised at It when it became operational. . If you were not there, the scene looked like The Shocked Look when, in the movie "Stargate" as Jaw's Dropped when The Gate Was Activated, it not only Exceeded Expectations, a Fear of what they May Have Unleashed Gripped Everybody. . We were glad we never allowed The Media to the event. The Argument was, and still is, did it need to be That Large To Work !..!?? . . Forgotten to History and Never Actually Known to the public, there never was Any Classification for Military Use. What Was Known, instantly, was This was no death ray - it was More Than That.! - February 1984

what?

Hey your site is blocked by some spam pop up, check your address.

you copies from INFINIA OR SO. THEY FAILED ALREADY.

Too much energy, too little cost, it is not a business..... DENIED...

No, I'm a genius but thanks for asking.