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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Hyderabad, India
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Need help in making a Mathematical model of Solar paraboloid dish concentrator

09/06/2009 1:56 AM

Hi All, am Madan, Accessory Design student from India..Am working on solar paraboloid dish concentrating system for both power generation and hot water for commercial and domestic homes, meaning one can keep this on the roof...I made a rough mathematical model of the system which gives us a way to go ahead in the project.... We took the basis of average home power consumption per month in U.S. as 1000KWH So Power required per day = 1000/30=approx 33KWH (Lets assume In India, it would be around 50-75% of it) Lets say we receive 5KWH per sq.m solar thermal energy per day... Lets take the efficiency of reflectors as 75% heat engine as 15% (heat to mechanical) Alternator as 90% (mechanical to electrical) Then, required amount of Input Solar thermal energy(x) is derived as 90%{[15%(75% of x)]} = 33KWH electrical Hence x = 325KWH thermal So, area required for the required input solar thermal energy is 325/5 = 65 sq.m This can be scaled to whatever size required Am leaving this calculation part here....Keep in mind this is not the accurate one but just an approximate one which could give a glimpse of the system..... Next step is dissecting the whole setup into its constituents that are involved like paraboloid structure, reflectors, tracking devices, heat engine, alternator and so.... Am posting each constituent in the form of new messages for effective communication.... Any suggestions !!!!! are always welcome.... Lets wish this could solve some problems... Actually this project is mainly targeted keeping in mind the rural villages here out in India. In summers we have no enough water for farming which leads to leaving the lands without cultivation till the rainy season. So in order to get income even in summers, they can cover their land with the above setup and sell the power to urban areas thereby get the income.. I can say POWER FARMING during summers.. But the problem is that the villagers cant invest on it...So in order to get the prices lower of the whole setup, initially am targeting commercial group thereby pave a way to the reduction of prices as mass production takes place which could benefit the villagers....(gets cheaper when mass produced)... This is the actual theme....

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#1

Re: Need help in making a Mathematical model of Solar paraboloid dish concentrator

09/06/2009 9:45 AM

Nice. Your efficiency parameters seem ok. Here goes some observations about it and somethings that are missing in your concept:

To make construction easier, take a look a some "solar farm" models posted in the internet - google for it, easy to find many hits. The mirrors are divided into small ones for easy of manufacture and assembly. I think they could even be plane eventually, making the setup really cheaper...

Besides it, have you ever considered using solar heating in a closed water system and then using a stearling engine to make power?

IMPORTANT: you did not mention anything about the system that will connect your farms to the grid. This is required to be a system that is capable of managing the loads, and to syncro the power generation with the grid. I think this would cost as much or even more than the generation system itself.

Look over the internet also about the systems sold and installed in California for power selling to the grid. Very interesting, they are using solar power generation directly however supplying over a system of static inverters and contactors with autonomous control.

Although this system is expensive, it benefits from not having movable parts, works alone, have virtually no maintenance. Over time, pays for itself with government incentives. Maybe you should consider something like this in a communitary system instead of individual units for increasing cost benefit.

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#2

Re: Need help in making a Mathematical model of Solar paraboloid dish concentrator

09/06/2009 10:03 AM

Hi,

like India much of Africa is desperately poor. Many in South Africa have come up with solar cookers for the poorer rural dweller to produce meals on, there are various models, even one for a camper.

Have posted this link for interests sake.

Andrew

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#3

Re: Need help in making a Mathematical model of Solar paraboloid dish concentrator

09/06/2009 3:32 PM

CR4 ADMIN:

Am I dreaming, or was there a previous post by nadam54321 - to which I replied - relating to reflector shapes? (curved vs planar).

If the thread was pulled (which is understandable, given the multiple posts), does that mean my post (and a lot of subsequent thinking:

)

... was all a bl**dy great waste of time?

Not Happy .

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