Portable Micro-CHP Heliostat

Description

This project seeks to bypass the issues of size, reliability and efficiency common to alternative energy systems, leveraging small-scale Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology as a competitor in the microgeneration market. Specifically, the project will design and produce a CSP system capable of fulfilling the need for remote Micro Combined Heat and Power (Micro-CHP) under adverse conditions.

The complete system will be less than 14 kg, ruggedized, simple in operation and maintenance, capable of solar energy collection and able to generate electrical power.

The need for on-site produced power and microgeneration methods is expanding. Leveraging small-scale CSP in this market provides benefits not found in other Micro-CHP systems; a renewable source of electricity and process heat that requires no transportation of fuel, produces no pollution during operation and can be carried by a single person.

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Project Overview
Wil Carver • 03/28/2015 at 19:30 • 0 comments

The need for the microgeneration (<2.5kW) of electricity and heat in remote locations is well known and has many solutions currently in the marketplace. However, renewable energy systems are often unsuitable for this use as 'small-scale' renewables are comparably large and require significant support personnel, logistics and a robust infrastructure to operate efficiently.
This project seeks to investigate the issues of size, reliability and efficiency common to alternative energy systems by constructing and testing a heliostatic Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) microgeneration system. The complete system will be man portable, ruggedized, simple in operation, easily maintained and capable of solar thermal energy collection in addition to the generation of electrical power.
After construction, the system is to be characterized on the metrics of mass, ergonomics, system thermal efficiency, electrical generation efficiency, system reliability, manufacturability, marginal cost of production and levelized cost of energy (LCoE), often referred to as 'grid parity'. These metrics will be used to determine the appropriate deployment and market usage for a system of this nature.
The system efficiency is expected to be above industry average, as CSP system efficiencies have been found to be inversely proportional to collection area. The manufacturing methodology and system design are expected to yield grid parity benefits that exceed current electrical generation technologies in addition to marginal costs that would yield a market-competitive product.

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Discussions

tmk wrote 04/01/2015 at 04:39

I love heliostats and solar thermal in general. Looking forward to seeing where you take this.

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Wil Carver wrote 04/01/2015 at 15:17

tmk, thanks for the support. This is a concept I've been kicking around for a while; I hope you find the results interesting. At the very least I will enjoy the opportunity to finally develop the physical system and share my process.

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EcPc wrote 03/31/2015 at 18:33

Is solar the focus of the project or do you have any thoughts on adding other power sources in addition to the solar collector?

ICE comes to mind first but on a simpler scale, maybe something like those pots with the thermoelectric element so you could produce energy with a simple flame source? You'd need to circulate the water to keep everything at a safe operating temperature but you could add the ability to add power with simple wood / biomass fuels.

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Wil Carver wrote 04/01/2015 at 15:13

Part 1:

Solar is the primary focus as I'm looking to this project as an opportunity to generate electricity and act as a thermal reservoir in the absence of combustion fuels.

I'll have to track down the source, but I read a paper a few years back in which the researchers were determining the primary sources of light (e.g., incandescent, LED, fire, etc) by geographic region using remote sensing data in the optical spectrum. It turns out that, globally, the most common source of light on this planet is still from wood fires. (There was a HaD post recently about an individual in India with the same concerns, making PV 'lanterns' in a tupperware container)

Part 2:We're definitely on the same wavelength wrt generation. With portability being the attribute with the heaviest weight in the requirements matrix I down-selected to TEGs after an HoQ analysis in my first round trade study. (TL;DR: TEGs = better, you || me = smart)

I had originally conceived the electrical generation portion of the project as a heat engine with a generator, which would have consumed a large percentage of my available mass. I'm really glad I forced myself to explore alternatives and firm up my design specifications before heading down that rabbit hole...

That said, the system would be able to extract energy from other heat sources with no modification.

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EcPc wrote 04/01/2015 at 16:36

Thanks for the reply. I think the approach is sound for the goals you have.

I was looking for an ICE solution for some time and stumped across this site:
www.microcogen.info
I don't think the majority of the engine information will be applicable to what you're doing but there may be some useful information in there for you.

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.

Cheers

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Wil Carver wrote 04/02/2015 at 13:40

Thanks for the link Jesse, looks like it has some useful info on charge controllers in the solar/wind section.

Are you sure? yes | no

Portable Micro-CHP Heliostat

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Portable Micro-CHP Heliostat

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