Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Thu, 08 Sep 2005 15:47:58 -0400) it happened Guy Gordon
wrote in
:

Jan Panteltje wrote:

http://www.stirlingenergy.com/news.asp?Type=stirling
Will this work? Still waiting for the car with Stirling engine...

Well, don't hold your breath waiting for the car.
But Stirling cycle engines are ideal for solar to electric power.

Some months ago I read a long article on this subject in EE Times.
(you can probably find it at http://eetimes.com, but I read it in print.)
I found:
http://eetimes.com/news/latest/showA...cleID=53700939

They claim 30% (overall efficiency).
And 10 to 16% overall for solar cells.
Solar cells will keep getting better I am sure.... and have little downtime
no moving parts... efficiency of solid state converters could be very good..
So we will wait and see.
For sure with these ridiculous fuel prices solar power and water power
(and nuclear of cause) are becoming a must if we want to live the way we live
now.

Boeing has been looking into generating electricity using solar heat.
See

http://www.boeing.com/assocproducts/...owertower.html

and especially

http://www.boeing.com/assocproducts/...lar2_final.pdf

--Mike Jr.