Solar Stirling Plant Review

Solar power for home energy production is becoming big, as costs of the technology drop and prices for commercially-produced electricity continue to rise. Solar power is efficient, amenable to a decentralized home-production approach, and environmentally friendly. Most solar power systems used for home energy production take the form of solar photovoltaic panels installed on the roof. Solar panels generate energy without moving parts and, barring significant damage to the equipment will continue producing energy for many years. However, solar panels are not the only option for producing energy from sunlight. The other category of solar electricity production is solar thermal power, in which mirrors are used to concentrate sunlight on a point target and a process at that target generates electricity. The solar Stirling plant is an application of this principle. A guide to building one is available from solarstirlingplant.com for a bit less than $50. It's also possible to find solar Stirling generators for purchase online. The web site (solarstirlingplant.com) uses language that is unfortunately similar to certain free-energy scams based on magnet power, perpetual motion, or alleged secrets from the work of Nicola Tesla rediscovered; however, in this case the principles behind the power generation are scientifically sound and well-understood. The technology is even used commercially on a large scale; most commercial thermal-solar plants employ Stirling engines to power their generators. The only caution would be that the information of how to build a solar Stirling plant is surely available elsewhere. It's also possible that the unsupported claims on the web site are not accurate, for example the claim that the solar Stirling plant in the design produces power 12 times more efficiently than solar panels. The company offers a 60-day refund, but this applies only to the e-book describing how to build a solar Stirling plant; the actual plant itself and/or its components would not necessarily come with a guarantee. The solar Stirling plant uses a parabolic mirror that can be moved to face the best direction for gathering sunlight, focused on a Stirling engine that powers a generator. A Stirling engine is a variant on the same principle as the steam engine (it was invented by Robert Stirling as a safer alternative to the steam engine), in which a contained gas is heated and cooled, expanding and contracting as a result, and generating motion that drives a motor. The heat source for the Stirling engine in a solar Stirling plant is of course sunlight focused by the parabolic mirror. One thing I wasn't able to discover about the solar Stirling plant described in the e-book sold at solarstirlingplant.com is how much energy can be generated from one such motor. Clearly, that's an important consideration in comparing it to solar panels. The cost per generator seems on the whole fairly low, probably less than $200 for materials and components; the question remains then of how many of them would be required to power a typical house. One advantage of the solar Stirling plant is that, like all generators, it will produce alternating current, negating any need for a converter as is required with solar panels. At least two clear disadvantages are apparent. One is that the solar Stirling plant has moving parts, which means that over time it will necessitate more maintenance. Another is that it requires elevation, which means that if installed on a rooftop it will be more exposed than solar panels and could be damaged more easily by birds, animals, thrown objects, etc. However, there's no doubt that the system works, and is worth taking a serious look at as an alternative for generating power.