Solar Stirling Engine Generator

[123ZAC4567890]

NEVER EVER LOOK AT THE FOCAL POINT - IT WILL BLIND YOU EASILY ! ! ! !

items that bright just look very clear while they are destroying your retina. Be careful with the Fresnel lens.

[ajjs02]

His generator windings are very primative, as well as the black paint..and the higher the sun the more effective solar power...stil ..all in all very cool..way to go..I wish I knew about this stuff when i was a kid...all i ever saw was that similar crank and an 19 century mini steam engine hooked up to it...that was cool as well...lol..

[TheJamesy1023]

@wcemichael i think the idea here is to get clean and renewable source of energy, not that candle or oil or any flamable stuff...

[UTubeisSHIT523441]

Is that thing in the middle between two wheels 'generator'?

the things need some improvement.. If this video, at least show what the amperages are it would be nice..

[GeDu89]

great :)

[htomerif]

you know, I know this is old, but some black paint would have helped on the hot end. from that glare on the camera it looks like a lot if the light is being reflected.

also, like every other generator video, just volts is meaningless. A neon sign might use 20,000 volts, but only a few watts. Your car's starter might only use 12 volts, but nearly a thousand watts.

[PatGirvin]

@htomerif of course, we know that, but thanks for your comment.  This was simply a "proof of concept". We saw the higher power ones in Phoenix; that's impressive!

[sgirvin1]

@htomerif You're quite right that the voltage alone is meaningless, and I actually did measure the output in watts for my project.

Unfortunately, I didn't know much electronics, and I calculated power using V^2/R, where R was the coil resistance... obviously this doesn't work because R is supposed to be the load resistance and the impedance of the coils would vary anyways. To others: a better way is to measure current using the appropriate multimeter setting in series with a known load. P=I^2R

[starr8719]

what power lense is that ?

[wcemichael]

OMG I had the same idea, but you only have 1 phase, you should try 2 or 3 phase. Forget the solar. I would use a candle. No harm in it your still getting more power for your money. I think you are getting more volts than heating up a thermocouple.

[Deddily]

When hearing this guy's voice, I can't help but think "A double sterlin motor, oh my God! What does it mean?"

[frogjohn001]

really cool. what did you use the flint for? Did you pre heat the engine with the normal heat source before you used the lens?

[PatGirvin]

@frogjohn001 yes, we did. It was a very cold day, and the sun was in and out. sharp eyes!

[T5646766]

i would be lazy and use my zippo

[chillz27]

put ice on the cold side of the piston

[boldziga]

cool the other side and get much faster speeds.

[Albertoang2]

hola... quisiera encargarte uno igual al video y com seria para que me lo hicieras llegar? mi tel es 3106560606 en sincelejo colombia.. email es albertoang2@hotmail.com

[uomodeltuono]

what's the power you measured?

[heathovc]

well if you could make it last 100,000 years i'd say you're good.

[PatGirvin]

@heathovc :)

[666kourosh666]

how and where can i buy this genorator?

kourosh666@gmail.com

[nbachmann]

paint the sucker black and term that glare into heat.

[buzzhead2261994]

about how much power is going to that wheel

[RavilUfa]

прикольно!

[WoahSalmo]

Very cool. Not quite as efficient as PV cells (yet), as a 3x3 PV cell can create a 1v potential, but a GREAT supplement to alternative energy nontheless

[JWnFL]

YOU GUYS! ROCK!!! Keep up the great work!

[ed1vanjr]

u guys should use protecion goggles.... 

[juanpisq]

about how many revolutions per minute the engine is working?

[cedartree696]

I love Sterling engines! I think they will be utilized more in the future as materials improve.....

[ethanstephenson]

you should figure out how to power a laser to produce the heat to complete the cycle with no sun! :) Prob wouldnt ever have enough amps to run anything else though. but in theory it would be awesome!

[PatGirvin]

@ethanstephenson fun idea, but of course, we can't violate the laws of physics either :)

[kowdie12]

@PatGirvin ya that kids theory suggests propetual motion

[Spicyperson9123]

@PatGirvin here are some ideas, how about like a hand to hold a magnifing glass and use a heat lamp to generate the heat

[HiFiman4u]

@PatGirvin LOL as if everything is included in the so-called "laws of physics"Too bad you can't talk to Nikola Tesla or Dr Moray about physics.

[ivanmanko]

@ethanstephenson You know that’s impossible, right? As a kid I asked my father, who is an engineer, why can’t we use a dynamo to power the wheel. He just laughed and said it was impossible. It was really frustrating for me. But yes, years later at University I learned why. It’s a bit complicated to explain in a comment but check Entropy in the Wikipedia. :)

[Xero555000]

@ethanstephenson you'd use more power making the lazer than you'd get out of the engine

[Jamieduk999]

@ethanstephenson 10 volt laser is not enough to heat anything up

[TheSaarth]

@ethanstephenson i think thats the closest any1 must have gotten to a perpetual motion machine, gj :)

atleast its the best i've heard.

[mainstream1967]

Cool guys! I wanted to make a stove top fan with a stirling engine...but I have no idea where to start from...any ideas?

[PatGirvin]

@mainstream1967 check the early comments, dude.

[wcemichael]

@mainstream1967 A guy made one from 12 volt cooler parts. Look up thermofan by blakewells66

[anilsethia]

I would like to buy the model Stirling engine. Please inform where can i buy it or please inform me the price of the engine.

By the way it makes beautiful sound

[PatGirvin]

@anilsethia

see earlier comments. yeah, the sound is hypnotic.

[JSnyder49428]

Now what if you made it bigger, put the heated cylinder in your hot water heater, and the cooled cylinder in your freezer. We have an extra freezer in the basement for venison and stuff so its only like 5 feet away from our water heater.

[slickbelge]

Nice stirling engine. too bad there's no dynamo there. The tester is plugged into hidden wires under the table.. what is the point of this guy?

[lucklyclover58]

That's cool but how?

[JesusP1978]

nicely :)

[mashersmasher]

have you thought of gluing neodymium magnets to the fly wheels and putting a big ring of coils around them?

[hgfjtdjhtd687369876]

whaw that's just amazing

how u buy this one please give me the instructions

[bukster1]

Science project winner for you. A+

[IAMTHEONE28]

@PatGirvin: Quality design wat did u use for the cylinder and piston mate???

[JackHarveyOi]

cool bro

[Dinamitium]

Increible pulso el del chino!!!

[AlemitoFilms]

my hamster is much more efficient

[MrStickChan]

Nice

[Mongoswede]

Check out the company Infinia Corp. they make a 2.2kW sterling generator that uses a large parabolic mirror to focus the sun on the hot half of the engine.

[RoofMountWindTurbine]

Happy Holidays Everybody!

[Lukapoo13]

i want 1

[Lord00Henry]

Did you get the current? ! volt doesn`t mean too much.



[patelpratik05]

hi..

from where i can buy kit to build this???

[canonball627]

were did u find the instructions to build one of these?

[Moneymax3001]

ALRIGT!! SONETHING THAT SHOWS SOME PROMISE... NOW GO BUILD THE BIG ONE... ADVERTISE FOR THE GRAND WRITER TO UNCLE SAM AND MAKE IT HAPPEN!! A CHICKEN IN EVERYONE'S POT... I MY SELF JUST LIKE MY POT AND DO NOT WANT CHICKEN IN IT SO THERE YOU GO...... MAXWELLartGORDON

[9020powrmax]

Half the fun is watching the engine run!  Neat units..

[MrSaturdayNightSpecL]

The average car battery puts out 12.5 volts currently. You need a larger stater and to reduce the weight of the actuating wheels and stater as well as the pistons. Reduction in weight and increase in size of the device itself will yield greater energy. Also use of a lubricant on the pistons themselfs and their houseing will yeild less friction and less loss of energy. The problem with using light refraction is in a larger scale would you use more power tracking the sun than the output.

[iswindowsavirus]

come on guy's my arms are killing me this glass aint light you know!!!

[blueeyes2015]

hi thanks for the idea!!,(i'm making my own stirling engine too!!!i was going to use water and a flame but i think i'm using it withhot air know,thanks!!!(for the video!!

[ss2010516]

你这个在哪买的？

[RedSandPalm]

you should also try the parabola design

[gaiatechnician]

I have a free open source solar tracking system that nobody has tried yet. It is about 5 months old. It is on equatorial mount and your stirling engine stays in one place.

I have only made models but if you want to try it, you could easily go to 10 times the power without having to hold the lens all the time. You can find it at appropedia.

(Dual parabolic dishes on equatorial mount.) If you use it, please contribute your results back to the project. Brian

[boxa888]

nice man!!!

[jesusmendoza89]

nice video, i have some questions because im planning of making one of my own, how did you build it? and how do i make it produce electricity???

[PatGirvin]

@jesusmendoza89

please read the previous comments and replies.

[jesusmendoza89]

@PatGirvin i did and i didnt see any comment explaining how did you buildt it and where did you get the materials from, sorry

[GreenAce92]

@jesusmendoza89 coil of wire and rotating magnet

[Solarmindset]

nice one gents......would be cool to see some kind of load (as in amps) on the machine....and a bigger mirror... :-P

[UncleKennybobs]

Nice.

Someone should tell the lad in the glasses not to stare at the focused light beam. I noticed he's already wearing glasses...

Must get a Sterling engine!

[vipmty]

very nice!

[heckfricker]

Try this when the sun is high in the sky

[originalthehrao]

would have generated more power if you had simply fixed the lens instead of moving it around, but nice work anyways.

[N2OGavin]

You should make a giant one someday, and get some good energy from it. :]

XVI///

[N2OGavin]

You should make a giant one someday, and get some good energy from it. :]

XVI///

[N2OGavin]

You should make a giant one someday, and get some good energy from it. :]

XVI///

[DjGisME]

Look how much energy is in 1 meter square of magnifing glass - amazing

[jimothybobcheck]

The voltage is being measured incorrectly here! When using a multimeter, voltage must be measured in parallel and not in series like it shows here. To measure voltage correctly, place a resistor where the multimeter is in the video and measure the voltage from both sides of the resistor (ie in parallel with the resistor). To turn the voltage into watts, square the voltage and divide the answer by the resistor's value in ohms. I imagine that if you had done this, you would have measured more!

[897833234]

@jimothybobcheck how can you see that it is in parallel?

[Parikenaar2]

a bicicle dinamo give you 6 volt 1 amp result 6 wat is it powerful enoug to drive this ting.

[PatGirvin]

The difficulty would be to get it started. I think the engine has a fair amount of strength once it gets started.

[shorty40merza]

@PatGirvin hi sir> volts by itself tells us nothing ,,, how much amps does it give ? the power is the important thing , if you want to know the efficiency roughly you can calculate the area of your lens and i heard each meter squared of area has about 1000 watts shining on it in good sunshine. so workout by proportion... then subtract your lens and generator efficiencies and you'll be able to work out your engine efficiency

[wrestlejoy]

how is it made

[JamesThWilliams]

The frame rate is so low you can't tell which way the flywheel is spinning.

[hexyournightmare]

man...try to balance that epoxy resin with that magnets glued on it...don't you feel the vibe made of that thing attached to the motor?...is slowing down the engine and the efficiency is near by 0... sorry for my bad english

[creamyfilling102]

haha wow. i have that same motor at home. i don't think it works right though. i filled that little circly thing up with alcohol and almost burned the house down, but it did turn about 10 revolutions before it quit.

[44103712]

素晴らしいチャレンジと実現！。

未来は君たちの為に有る！。

大人はダメだ。残念ながら・・・夢を見ないからさ。

[troy5251]

has a little bit of rod knock lol just kidding its awesome

[wwilliam7]

whats the eficieny of this engine?

what do you all think about putting a largerengine in a small car? why it has not been in use in cars becaouse for the bad gas regulate, but why do you think about an freecoupling alike in the cars. because the lov rpm and high efficiency it could work?

[OregonDARRYL]

nice, I like it.

[BlueEarthRising]

This is so impressive, I really like this, a simple example of generating energy.

[rambbo12]

how did you make that can you send me a link

[MarkTBSc]

The best stirlings I've seen used a little power from the engine to pump water over the cooling fins and through a radiator for more efficient cooling. Also, the simply wound coils will have poor efficiency. If a couple of simple toy car motors were hooked up to the fly-wheels by belts I'd guess you could get a couple of Watts out of this setup. Enough to charge a cell-phone maybe, but not an iPhone.

[syndrome95]

The previous two people who commented are about right. the chamber of the engine needs more cooling. Ive seen some of these with a small fan driven from a pully to assist the cooling.

As you must know its the temperature differential that creates the engergy. A more efficient dynamo would help of course.

Engines not much bigger than this have enough power to move themselves so you can apply more load to this one Im sure.

[ikb01]

hmm nice. but you could have just placed the volts meter on the table :)

[texNoz]

Dr. Sheldon Cooper didn't think of that!!! XD

[KeVlarTheMighty]

Flawesome! (flawelessly awesome) ^^

so cool.

[koenstr]

making the surface of the stirling engine black could also improve the performance

[Nza420]

all right! now you can run the battery back-up on your car's stereo! woohoo!

[minxlabrada]

So basically we are all getting raped by the coal/nuclear energy companies.

Raped of cash & earth.

That is if this thing on a mega industrial scale would yeild mega industrial energy.

[princeigorash]

@minxlabrada

Everything is an overcome and a compromise.We know that in order to function for a stirling engine we need 24/24 solar radiation,and also we need spots were this engines could work at full efficiency and low cost.I think there is in a USA desert such a plant (in the movie Sahara).But the problem is the sand wich cause heavy trouble for solar panels.

[RogerDodger69]

A combination of power generation with multiple sources (i.e: hydrogen, solar, wind, thermal, self-propelled dynamo to reduce source reliance, improved bateries to store energy from low voltage sources, etc) is the ideal. There should be no competition between the power generation sources, but a large hybridization of concepts in order to generate clean energy. For once, stop hiding patents!

[Zollikoffer]

So of course one of these little things won't do much, but imagine this on a large scale, maybe a few of them out in a sunny area of the world or something, all lined up and doing their job, you could power a few buildings maybe if you wired them right... right?

[AtvProjects]

How did you measure the voltage? did you attach a DC motor to it?

[salt1955]

How much power do you get out of this thing? I see some readings, but what are the units? How much in KWh, however small?

[cappydawg]

LOL!! how much in kilowatt hour.... this engine will probably be measured in watts. eg. 0.25 watts, and by the way kwh is used for measuring capacitance of batteries and energy usage of homes.

[PhotonDrive]

You think direct shaft will improve efficiency? We have been using FlexSolarMods to drive neo-gens. Hey BOX - it doesn't matter WHAT drives the gen-shaft, AND diff. types of gens can be used SIMULTANEOUSLY-the current all adds up! This isn't the mag-drive wheels, which THEMSELVES are flex in num. The 2 solar types together can run ALL VEHICLES who can limit driving time to light/heat! Where are you air & vib guys with some real amps for OTHER times?

[kennypart1]

on a large scale it could power a house.

[mywifehatesme1]

That's good; but do you know how to burn ants with magnified sunlight?? *sizzzzzle*

[vengencefrom1979]

these kind of engines coupled with the french air car and wind power farms could make oil obsolete. imagine using a sterling engine to run a compressor that charges air storage tanks that runs a generator at night.

[vengencefrom1979]

the future is in your hands

[ChristianScherwin]

It seems to make a lot of noise, that's a lot of energy lost.

[NickBK007]

not really. apparently, if you scream, non stop, for around 2 years, you will have used the same amount of energy required to heat a cup of coffee.

[anilsethia]

@ChristianScherwin I think it makes pleasent sound

[amando96]

you just got free voltage :D nice going!

[1035573]

that' s great Einstein (and his lab assistant little helper)..

[matt9741399]

It is meaningless to simply measure voltage. You need to put a known load (like a fixed value resistor) across your generator so that you can calculate the *power* you are generating.

[imikewillrockyou]

Very cool Sterling engine experiment. And Sterling engine are no longer the past, they are the future! Check out this video of a large scale company using solar Sterling generators.

[tohobbes]

Only 1 volt? What are you using for a generator? I think stirling engines work better at slightly lower speeds, so If you increased the strength of the magnetic field of the stater field windings of the generator to electrically brake the engine a bit more, you could get better efficiency and more power at a lower speed.

[PatGirvin]

interesting idea. Next time we would probably use a prebuilt motor as the generator, as they are engineered for efficiency, and try a few sizes out to increase the efficiency. This experiment was simply to see if we could make it work. Thanks.

[SVKmellow]

The generator is really weak... but common it just proves that they got a quite reasonable voltage with a really bad generator. And their idea was just brilliant :) With that speed most of what i used for generators would have at least 5V (it has 2.5 when I turn it with my finger as fast as I can... ;)

[luc59457]

@tohobbes I agree, 1v is not much but that is just a toy also. Check for some in Arizona. My tec gets more than this (about 3vdc) and my Teg has been claimed to reach 8.4v but I have never achieved this.

[LostInMadness220]

Have you checked out "Sterling Dish 500MW solar power plant" video?

[lars517]

Did you make this yourself? if so, plz tell where you got the parts, i want to make one of these myself

[maliburacer10]

Great video are you saling the engine

[cosminx2003]

wow, pretty cool, where did you buy the materials from ?

[mo1971fordcrew]

good idea, whats the top r's on it?

[Teratornis]

Are you just using air cooling with the fins around the cylinder?

[PatGirvin]

Yes.

[boxa888]

way better than solar!! awesome job! has some balls too!!!

[racerx007666]

it doesn't seem to be struggling,cause its getting good rpm's...what about gearing the axle to the generator up like 1:2 or 1:3?

[PatGirvin]

I think the main thing would be to find a generator that is optimized for this sped and power, and to find a way to optimize the heat transfer, without meltingthe probe. We thought about indirect heating through an oil bath, but never got around to it.

[deauzie]

what was the maximum power u got ever out of it

[phdecora]

1 volt, how many amps? thanks for posting

[Legionnaire18]

Where can I get a diagram or schematic on how to construct a Stirling Engine?

[SarumKen]

Where can I get this exact sterling engine kit and how much will is cost? Could a small generator be hooked up to it?

[nemanume]

paint that in black and it will work faster ... ;)

[PatGirvin]

well, not really, since the death-ray solar lens would burn off the paint right away. We coated it with carbon to increase absorption.

[renderrob]

I suspect that high temperature grill paint would be able to withstand the heat.

I suggest you put FAQ answers into your video description.

[PatGirvin]

Never expected to get so many views or comments.

[SSgtPetz]

I realize this is a year ago... but you can use high temp engine paint or even the stuff that's good to 2000 degrees... good stuff.

[joness105639]

any idea how to scale this up big enough to run off of a wood fire and run a radio station in the democratic republic of congo using a combination of local materials and things that can fit aboard a small plane?

[PatGirvin]

You will find that a Stirling engine is a finely machined bit of work. I'm sure you could ship in a large working engine and fit it to a small generator, but as far as power produced and required, it would take a lot of work to get it to work. It's not "Mr. Fusion" yet. Good luck.

[renderrob]

"there is no one in the world currently delivering a small Stirling engine at a price that would be acceptable on a non-military budget"

stirlingengineDOTcomSLASHFullP­owerDOTadp

[PatGirvin]

Yeah, I am thinking that with all the advances in material science with ultra-low friction materials, high speed machining, nanotechnology capacitors, liquid optics and thermal simulation, you should be able to come up with *something* that can be mass-produced.

[TGAcodes]

Awesome. Great science project

[ZepLion]

Brilliant! This could be a great source of solar energy if there was a more powerful, affordable, and reliable stirling engine available somewhere.

[RichardRoy2]

You mean this one's not affordable or reliable?

[441rider]

That's a Newman coil configuration! your on it keep going and before you finish university you could be powering your house! all about hands on like he's doing here.

[441rider]

Did you try putting your hot spot on the point of maximumum thrust at bottom of hot cap not 1 side where the sides of displacer moves. You are shorting the air circuit. Lots of peple heat lop sided as this kit comes.

[jizzmonger]

.08 VOLTS?

[PatGirvin]

.8 volts

[PatGirvin]

Carefully saw off brass railing surrounding the engine.

Saw off the back of the engine casing using a jeweler's saw to cut straight down the sides and then at angles to cut triangles off of the casing. Afterwards, file down the sawed edges.

On the thin piece of cardboard, use the modeling knife to cut out slots for the long thin magnets, making sure that the slots are parallel and that there is just enough space for the spindle to stand vertically in between them.

[PatGirvin]

Boil water and pour the boiled water into a bowl. Then add in the low temperature melt thermoplastic and wait for the plastic to heat through, until it has become semi-transparent.

Carefully remove the half of the thermoplastic from the hot water and mold it over the long magnets and around the spindle, surrounding the spindle except for its axle hole and covering the visible side of the long thin magnets. Take care not to mold plastic over the poles of the magnets.

[PatGirvin]

Wait for the plastic to cool and set, then remove the cardboard with the slots from the magnet, spindle and plastic assembly.

With about 7/8 of the remaining thermoplastic, cover the second side of the long thin magnets. Make sure that the path for the axle is kept clear by placing the back of the modeling knife (not the blade) over the exposed side of the spindle and its axle hole so that none of the plastic gets into or covers the axle hole in the spindle.

[PatGirvin]

wow, way too painful to post it like this. Give me an email and I'll send you the procedures directly!

[LAUNCHZILLA]

nice work!!!!! put a light bulb or motor on it so people can see that it can do something useful...way to go!

[LAUNCHZILLA]

awesome!!!! where did you get your sterling engine??? how much did it cost.... what parts dod you modify? what kind of magnets??? need more info..... WAY COOL!!!!

[PatGirvin]

Materials:

PM Research Solar #1 Stirling Cycle Hot Air Engine

395 mm by 395 mm fresnel lens

Spool (at least 60 m) of 30 gauge insulated copper wire

12.7 mm diameter, 3.175 mm thick Neodymium disk magnets

3.175 mm diameter, 9.525 mm long Neodymium magnets (paired to create two long, thin magnets)

1cm by 1cm by 2.5 cm block of low temperature melting thermoplastic