Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Nice swing,
no follow-through.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


         

Please log in.
Before you can vote, you need to register. Please log in or create an account.

Tract Homes Solar Generator

Tract homes with mirror roofs focus the sun on a central tower to generate power for community
  (+1)
(+1)
  [vote for,
against]

The homes roofs are positioned so that for each part of the day a substantial number of roofs are focusing the sun on the tower. The tower has a steam generator that supplies electricity for the community.

The mirrored roofs also have the benefit of keeping the homes cool by reflecting the light and heat away...

The roofs are static to avoid the expense and maintnance problems of tracking machinery.

The big problem would be keeping the mirrors clean. Some kind of sprinkler might work.

macrumpton, May 25 2004

Sandia labs solar tower http://www.sandia.g...rthermal/nsttf.html
Similar concept, except moveable mirrors and no homes [macrumpton, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

[link]






       The tower would be movable, or there could be multiple towers.
macrumpton, May 26 2004
  

       Morn to night the sun moves almost 180 degrees.   

       Summer to winter the sun moves less say 30 degrees.   

       Focus on a point without moving mirrors if you wish to make steam temperatures is Euclidean mathematically impossible. Focus on a line as with a trough collector will still be difficult and steam only with constant tweaking.   

       Using optimistic 950 to practical 200 watts per meter squared, how much roof area is available in a specially designed tract home even if conversion is very efficient?   

       Show me.   

       ) Added later: Sorry about ranting. Forgot what site I was on.)   

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

       i was
popbottle, Jun 08 2013
  

       Obvious solution: Hinge the roof along one edge, and place the house on a turntable. A handy side-effect would be that the house itself would partly follow the sun, sunflower-like. Alternative solution: flocking tract homes.
spidermother, Jun 09 2013
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle