1-kW solar Stirling experiment. Final report

Technical Report · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:5418052

Giandomenico, A

The objective of this experiment was to demonstrate electrical power generation using a small free-piston Stirling engine and linear alternator in conjunction with a parabolic solar collector. A test bed collector, formerly used at the JPL Table Mountain Observatory, was renovated and used to obtain practical experience and to determine test receiver performance. The collector was mounted on a two-axis tracker, with a cold water calorimeter mounted on the collector to measure its efficiency, while a separate, independently tracking radiometer was used to measure solar insolation. The solar receiver was designed to absorb energy from the collector, then transfer the resulting thermal energy to the Stirling engine. Successful testing of receiver/collector assembly yielded valuable inputs for design of the Stirling engine heater head.

• Research Organization: Jet Propulsion Lab., Pasadena, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5418052
• Report Number(s): NASA-CR-164530
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140700* -- Solar Thermal Power Systems
ALTERNATORS
CONCENTRATING COLLECTORS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC GENERATORS
ENGINES
EQUIPMENT
HEAT ENGINES
PARABOLIC COLLECTORS
PARABOLIC DISH COLLECTORS
POWER GENERATION
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR HEAT ENGINES
SOLAR TRACKING
STIRLING CYCLE
STIRLING ENGINES
THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES