Solar Modules; Silicon vs CIGS
With solar manufacturing, there is a close contest to see which material will be the material of choice for Photovoltaic (PV) cell/module production. The PV module field is dominated by silicon at this point. An estimated 90% of the PV modules in use today are silicon based. There is good reason for this amount of [...]
Jatropha plant - Biodiesel and so much more
A small tree or shrub with a maximum height of 5 m, Jatropha curcas reportedly grows readily in areas of low rainfall (from 250 mm a year) and in poor soils, however, yield is strongly affected by growing conditions. The trees are easy to establish (from seeds or cuttings), grow [...]
Solar Trough - Commercial Power from The Sun.
Parabolic trough systems predominate among today’s commercial solar power plants. Trough systems convert the heat from the sun into electricity. Because of their parabolic shape, troughs can focus the sun at 30 to 60 times its normal intensity on a receiver pipe located along the focal line of the trough. Synthetic oil captures this [...]
Solar Thermal Tower
A Solar Thermal Tower runs on the thermal law that hot air rises. Basically the way a thermal tower works is very similar to what would happen if you combined a convection oven with a chimney.
A solar thermal tower has three main parts. The tower, the collector, and the turbine. The more prominent is [...]
The Stirling Engine.
A ‘Stirling Engine’ is in the family of heat engines. It is a closed cycle regenerative hot air (or other permanent gas) engine.. Closed cycle means that there is a fixed volume of the ‘working fluid’ in the system. There is no intake, there is no exhaust.
Since the Stirling engine is a closed cycle, it [...]
