Solar Thermal Energy Anyone?

By Richard Williams 5/28/09

Today we are all supposed to be aware of using carelessly and many
times needlessly !other "arth#s precious resources$ %o we ha&e to use oil and
gas to heat our homes schools and other buildings' (robably yes for now
until we get this bus turned around and heading in the right direction$ Read
about my solar e)periments today that you could promote or use in your higher
grade le&el classes$ * +now it wor+s and * demonstrated it today for a large
group of engineers scientists and educators$
,gain there is a challenge to +eep things simple with the engineering
+eyword -*.. used to guide me$ /-eep *t .imple .tu0 0 d$1 2omple) often
e3uates to e)pensi&e and complicated$ * do not li+e either of those words so
using materials and designs that are easily obtained and used especially for
school pro4ects is always a parameter for me$ 5i+e my 6ettuccini (asta Bridge
* wanted things that could be easily obtained cheap and used by students$
/7ow one word of caution here please$1 What * designed wor+s well and does
get hot$ The tip of one of my 8ngers is sore from a slight burn from a 3uic+
touch when it was used to test to see if something was getting hot$ *t already
was$ * belie&e that pictures are worth a thousand words and my .olidWor+s
designed digital screen shots can gi&e you ideas to use as you see it or enough
inspiration to come up with your own similar creati&e ideas$ 5et us begin with
some easy .olidWor+s screen shots$ This is going to be a heliostat and * used 9
inch si:ed mirrors * got from !ichael#s 2raft .tore$ *f you don#t ha&e them
chec+ out any craft store in your area$ ;ery reasonable * thought$ *t cost me
<2$29 for a pac+age of 8&e highly re=ecti&e mirror surfaces$ !y 8rst half of the
array has 9> of these indi&idually focusable mirrors$ The small nuts and bolts
were e)pensi&e but * did not search for a wor+ around or a substitution or
purchasing them in a large 3uantity$ The moldings were also e)pensi&e but if
you ha&e a wood wor+ing shop you can strip your own pieces from a larger
piece of board lumber$ %o get someone to do this for you that has a wood
wor+ing shop$ *f you ha&e ne&er done this don#t try it$ 7ow for the pictures$




* +now it loo+s simple enough and it is but this ?/@
th
scaled down &ersion of
the full mirror si:e one of ? foot mirrors has e&erything glued together with my
left o&er "lmer#s Wood glue from the bridge * built$ Too small to nail or screw
together so glue is a great alternati&e but you might ha&e a better idea$ The
mirrors themsel&es were glued onto a 9 inch s3uare wood bac+ing $25 inch
thic+ with contact cement$ Aust follow the directions on the can$ * bought a
3uart and * ha&e an awful lot left o&er$ 7e)t two screen shots are the mirror
subBassemblies$

With this con8guration it can pi&ot on the &ertical and hori:ontal a)is$ This
lea&es one more a)is to worry about but to get your students interested in
solar thermal energy we can s+ip that part for this article$ Cowe&er you would
optimally want to ha&e the mirror surfaces at perpendicular angles to the sun
with a slight de&iation oD that perpendicular angle to re=ect the sun light onto
a target surface not bloc+ing the sun light to the mirrors$ This is sometimes
referred to as the critical angle$ 7ow we build upon what we ha&e here with
this subBmirror assembly$ *t grows into something li+e this down below here$

!y full array will ha&e two 9> mirror arrays 4oined together with a piano
hinge and set ?20 degrees apart$ (icture will follow but 8rst one important
consideration on these arrays that you ha&e to consider if you want to use the
same idea as * am portraying to you with mine$ "ach full row must be slightly
oDset from the one below it and my oDset was E of an inch$ Fou cannot ha&e
the bolts for the &ertical pi&ots interfering with each other$ *t does not aDect
the wor+ing of the array$ * thin+ the picture down below says it all$ * did use
a lot of &ery small washers as spacers to pro&ide clearances needed for free
mo&ements$
!y 8nal solar thermal pro4ect might loo+ something li+e this below$
G+ay so does it wor+' Fup sure does$ Aust don#t try touching the white spot$
Ta+e it from me it is hot$