The Wakasa Bay Energy Research Center is doing R&D on a Stirling engine system powered by solar heat.
This system utilizes a Stirling engine, which can convert heat energy to kinetic energy very efficiently. By using solar heat to power the Stirling engine, it's possible to obtain electricity and hot water at the same time.
"This is an acrylic plastic lens. It's called a Fresnel lens, and it plays the role of a convex lens, focusing solar rays to a single point. In this way, the solar energy density is increased, raising the temperature to 500°C, to drive the Stirling engine. This system is designed to generate electricity at 12 V DC, so it can charge a battery directly."
"This system relies entirely on heat. During the day, it generates electricity using sunlight, but because it uses a Stirling engine, at night, it can use biomass energy to generate electricity. It also uses cold water to cool the engine, which provides hot water at 40°C, which can be used for showers and the like."
From now on, the Center aims to develop a commercial system based on this prototype, reducing the cost by replacing some materials with aluminum and plastic.
