46" PARABOLIC MIRROR STEAM BOILER SOLAR POWER Solar "Death Ray":

[oxysean]

at 0:52 to 0:57 it looks like a shapeshifting reflective egg

[channel6543]

if its stainless steel, its not wool.

[jack342able]

Make A Telescope Out Of It That Would Be Huge

[2bornot2b1984]

If you can't put this kind of vessel under pressure, and you can't drink the water from the boiler because of contamination from the steel wool, what would this purpose be?

[Mattslayerable]

at 0:12

[Mattslayerable]

All I know is the scary suspence music at the beginning is from the creepy ghost movie "The Others" so random how I recognised that. Did anyone else...?

[ulkovich]

how you make the mirror ???

[olderanddecrepit]

Darn, I missed the death ray. :-(

[Olegserov2]

Sun is free and fun.

[KingFate20]

That'll give you a real nice tan.

[JaViF0rTYHaNDz]

It'll take 165 seconds to melt your arm with that mirror in AZ haha.

[nrz666]

Ever tried to direct several laser beams there and see what's going on in the focal point? ;)

[mactsk]

paint the bottle in black...

[pyrotech25]

u need to get a Pyrex glass cylinder and paint the back half flat black. nice mirror btw

[erockjmet]

You made water boil. What ever. You did not make steam. It takes little BTUs to boil water. It takes a lot of BTUs to make a change in state.Make water change to steam in other words. You have done nothing here other than make water bubble. Make steam and I would be amazed. Plus, putting wool in the water creates hardness. A turbine cannot run long with hardness present. Make that same wool out of something more expensive, then it wont be as economical.

[exTacyAngelHD]

How do you make one?

[AUniversalPhilosophy]

Dan, can you boil and make steam from a metal teapot? How long would it take it to boil and turn into steam? Would you design a solar water distiller? What size should the coiled copper tubing be, if you use that to distill the steam? Thanks.

[AUniversalPhilosophy]

Dan, can you boil and make steam from a metal teapot? How long would it take it to boil and turn into steam? Would you design a solar water distiller? Thanks.

[CTPAXRU]

at 0:40 i'm afraid for your camera x_x

[maikloco22]

no entendii o que'le falo!!

[markuscoollife]

you can spray water to see the fukusing point

[jamesdond1]

Having spent almost a decade building solar homes I found that you can get only about 1,100 btus per day per sq. ft. The highest gain is in the middle of the day. Your mirror is about 11 sq. ft so total btu gained would be about 12 thousand. This is about the output of a stove burner in 1 hour or 12 oz. of gasoline. (1/10 gal.) While bringing 16 oz. of water to boil from say 80 degrees may seem impressive, you only need about 130 btus to do that. About 2 minutes output. Good science!

[Clipster15]

I would want to build a large reflector telescope with that (if it could me made a bit more "perfect")

[heckonwheels1]

I just watched the Mythbusters try to burn a mock up of an ancient roman ship using a mirror built from materials that the Greeks would have had. I think they were unsuccessful because they had many small flat mirrors in a circular pattern. It simply didn't focus the energy enough to start a fire. They achieved about 250 degrees F. Enough to boil water but not ignite the ship.

[Halberds]

Thanks for the cool video and science lesson.

I think a steam engine generator would be cool.

The exhaust would be drinking water. :-)

[eltotoloco69]

you should put a large tank of water and boil the whole thing xD now that would be something

[mattmatt115]

Is this chemical reaction not causing a byproduct to be released from the stainless steel and boiling water???

Would this boiled water now be contaminated with a byproduct of the reaction/??

[JoshuaQuail]

@mattmatt115 : there is no chemical reaction in this process. what you are seeing is heat from light being caught by the steel wool and diffusing into the water. the only chemical reaction that occurs between water and steel is oxidation (rust), but that takes much more time than a few minutes.

[jimminsc]

try spinning some clean mercury for your mirror. Makes a perfect shape.

[jebaj0czeski0marynaz]

stupid dumbass

black bottle is better that wool

or put black bottle into the glass box and pump out gas this thing isolate better than anything

[jebaj0czeski0marynaz]

stupid dumbass

black bottle is better that wool

[bogardenit]

Can some one give me some tips, first ive got a slightly oval 18" by 22'' dish to make a mirror , is the dish satellite oval dishes still a good mirror to use ? do they focus like a true parabolic mirror once linned with reflective foil ? ?

[dredeer]

fake and gay

[HONOR2025]

Sorry for all the posts, was not sure if it worked.. but i still need one !!! :)

[HONOR2025]

how can i purchase one?

[pacus123]

How much electrical power could be produced from one of these mirrors? Assume a clear day and an efficient close cycled steam turbine.

[chachmaster3000]

If you were well versed in climatology, chemistry and particle dispersion there'd be no need for a rebuttal. I'm not going to bother educating you. Your schizoid head wouldn't listen.

You have no evidence to support your claim and are completely ignoring the physical improbability of these so called chem trails. You're merely regurgitating tin foil hat crap that George Noory or some fanatic spewed out.

No one cares, and you are not contributing.

[trumpsahead]

The opening of this video saw chemtrails in the sky. Could you bring down a plane with this? Maybe four or five almost flat mirrors long focal lengths. Would that work?

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

@trumpsahead no, you would need 2 sq miles of perfect mirrors to simply illuminate a target at 30,000 ft, up there, where the ice condensation clouds are:-) Even then, the focal point would be so scattered, the pilot would not even notice you. It would look like a shiny lake on the ground from the air.

5:1 dish diameter to focal point is the absolute maximum, up to about 200m focal length, after that, impossible.

[HONOR2025]

@GREENPOWERSCIENCE

How can I buy one?

[HONOR2025]

@GREENPOWERSCIENCE 

[HONOR2025]

@GREENPOWERSCIENCE

where can i purchase the 46 inch ?

[page523]

@GREENPOWERSCIENCE It is far more easy to parascope (L shaped reflection path) the focal point to almost any distance than to in line many to one target also I've tested the difference between 1 parabolic mirrored surface and a parabola with many mirrors as you claim to have; and found vastly different results my research shows that multiples of C avoid a certain phase diffusion, as seen in acoustics, than that of a single reflective surface. As such the smaller the mirror the higher efficiency.

[chachmaster3000]

@trumpsahead Chem trails are a load of crap. What people believe to be chem trails are actually super condensed water vapor from jets at high altitudes, turning to ice. As well you'll never will see low altitude _chemical trails_ for any long period of time. It's physically impossible.

[trumpsahead]

@chachmaster3000

No Unwise One, chemtrails are not a load of crap but a load of chemicals like barium, aluminum, strontium, and others. These chemicals are already showing up in children, and contaminating our water and depleting soil nutrients. Investigate thoroughly and you will find the truth.

Ice crystals across the entire sky east to west that remain all day long and eventually blocks out the sun? Gimme a break.

Govt has an agenda which is not to the benefit of U.S. citizens.

[chachmaster3000]

@trumpsahead

Physically impossible. You're foolish to blatantly ignore the events taking place when a jet engine is active at high altitudes. The reason why you see these so called chem trails is because nature cannot duplicate nor sustain ice crystals at such density in higher altitudes. A fan sucking below freezing air through an inferno and then back in to the same harsh conditions it came from can.

Be more concerned about the chemical dispersants BP used in the Gulf of Mexico.

[trumpsahead]

@chachmaster3000

You did not give a rebuttal to barium, aluminum, strontium, & other chemicals from these high flying planes. I have seen two planes flying at the same altitude one leaving a fat trail across the entire sky and the other leaving an obvious vapor trail that disappears within a minute or two.

And big military jets with four or five trails leaving the plane across the sky? If you believe they are vapor trails you are an Idiot or you work for govt or chemical company.

Get lost!

[EliteZodiac92]

@trumpsahead The fuck is wrong with you.

[trumpsahead]

@EliteZodiac92

... and Merry Christmas to you too and your entire family~!

[louis12346]

drink it

[TioaFox]

epoxy a cap on the bottle, and set it up there and run.... Much more exiting heheh

[narcovice]

how do you make electricity with a parabolic dish we might need one

[ttop2000]

Solar panels today can capture 20% of the suns energy. That means we could potentially get 5X (!) the amount of energy if we focus on how to do it. 20% efficiency isn't great, but it can easily power a home & electric car. At 75% efficiency, it BLOWS AWAY the cost of oil, coal, and (so called) "natural" gas. If we reach 75% efficiency, it's over for fossil fuels. This is one of the best areas to focus on - Let's get to 75%!!! Build things in your garage, experiment, study, invest, encourage!

[1Gabrielsson1]

what do you use this mirror for? does it have any good usage besides it is cool?

Thank you for your time

[ios000roman]

dude(as in surprised), I hope that most of the people realized that in the beginning of the movie you kinda showed them with your finger the trail left by the airplane...I saw the documentary, nice idea in doing so!

[Kletto23]

I used to make these kind of mirrors out of electroplated nickel.

Sadly I have no means to make them down here in Mexico. Can't find supplies or equipment for that purpose...Unless I could find an sponsor for financing. It's the easiest thing!!!

[stasyszz]

Thanks !

[stasyszz]

Hi, what cost of this parabolic mirror and where I can buy it?

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

@stasyszz Hi, there is a link on our site, click the Fresnel Lens

[ISN1P3DI]

in france they have a HUGE parabolic mirror, its literaly the size of a 10 story building, but apparently you can melt granite with a 2 metre (about 80 inches)  parabolic mirror. nice idea for the solar kettle :)

[iofebio]

ma spettacolo!!!! 

[NLmonsterNL]

where do you get those mirrors?

[dzgfdg]

damn the sun is so bright, it even hurts my eyes through the screen

[sgtfoxhound]

this is what we need instead of those filthy coal burning contraptions , i saw a segment on a tv show years ago that was hosted by leonard nemoy ( the bloke in star trek with the pionty ears ) there was a feild of these heating a colum of water powering a small town somewhere in the USA , in the same show they allso showed how you could run your car on hydrogen with a couple of modifications to the fueol system and the exhaust from burning hydrogen in only water , good work

[NigelLoller]

2 ltr plastic coke bottle takes 120 psi...but not boiling water, try a glass coke bottle!

[Bertziethegreat]

If this thing is so powerful, why not use it for electrical generation?

[esmeholmes]

use a black metal boiler.....

[okie294life]

Get you some pyrex lab glass. I wouldn't reccomend the Snapple bottle, not just for pressure but heat. These bottles are not tempered the same way that lab glass is, and can explode when they get hot!

[the43k]

These mirrors look very cool... But can you please help me. Other then for some parlor trick or science show, how can I use this on a daily or weekly basis and conserve energy? And when I say use them, I mean in an easy, user friendly way.

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

@the43k The best way is for cooking or solar heating water through a closed loop system for a heat exchanger. The second requires tracking and mounting.

[eloid777]

you mention that you made this parabolic mirror how do make the the mirror fisnih?

[gtphase111]

Nice mirror/s, would work great incorporated with a Stirling Engine power system, especially here in Australia ... keep up the good work and Go Green !

[kdkinen]

wow man! this is IT

good one

[IronHorsez88]

Can A Parabola melt glass? At what temperature does glass metl?

[innterru]

Подскажите пожалуйста, как можно изготовить такое зеркало или где его можно преобрести?

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

@innterru проверить сайт ниже подробнее

[geekfish]

Glass radiates heat faster than copper, heats up faster and cools faster. You could incorporate a steel boiler with thick glass lenses? Have multiple parabolic mirrors pointed at one boiler, bottom to top. I like the steal wool idea. Bring it a step further and put metal shavings in the boiler that could be reused, self circulating from the boiling water.

[liamjanin]

the metal inside should be black

[Mendelevium146]

how was the frame of the mirror made??

[shepnannie]

what if you used a chrome spray paint on one side of the bottle to reflect the light that passes through the bottle back after it passes through the water

[jcornelius215]

Would colored water heat up faster?

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Black, Green, Blue. The key is concentrations of dye, clear water is best in this boiler and any dark object will work.

Dan

[ikemkrueger]

Pretty smart idea! Not sure what it could be good for.. But I like them! :D

[draculapw]

Make a cup of tea..

[ikemkrueger]

Can you use the moonlight too to make something hot? :P

[WarzSchoolchild]

Great bit of 'Lateral Thinking' incorporating stainless steel wool in the water. It is also possible to make a reasonably good mirror, from just clay. (mud) you just line it with old CDs. which you focus individually, covering the others till the whole surface is covered in CDs. honeycomb style. The mirror can be a square block of wet clay/mud. set in a wooden frame/box.

[zibiaozheng]

what if that thing accidently shoot at ur penis?

[wrightylaaad]

does any low cost machine exist that you could mount a solar panel onto and it automatically track the sun all day? something like that would be great , we could harvest so much power from the sun

[jgoemat]

About 1300 watts per square meter hit the earth, about 1000 watts make it through the atmosphere. This mirror bisects an area of about 1.07 meters, so just about 1 kilowatt of solar energy would be focused by it.

[samueladams7]

About how many Snapple bottles will power a typical 1,200 - 1,500 sf house? I'm assuming that you're going to use the steam to power a car alternator, yes? What do you do when there's no sun?

[sickbuffalo]

OK, so you can boil about a pint of water with a 46 inch mirror. Do we just multiply 46 by 8, to find out how big a mirror we need to boil up a gallon? Or maybe it doesn't work that way

[berramarco]

Interessante , portare in ebolizione un litro d'acqua con posizionamento manuale della parabola e facile ma riscaldare molti litri e con inseguimento automatico le cose si complicano. Marco.Italia.

[tordherflower]

but i didnt get it yet abt the sun when its change position,may be its center point remain stable or wot? plz

[BeeRich33]

Sorry, did you say you made this? I'd love to see how. I saw your other smaller concave dish fabrication, but this is much larger.

[phinallee]

Love the banjo! Can't be anything but happy with a banjo for accompaniment.

I have an idea that has floated around in my head, but i do not have the means to accomplish it. What about using pyroelectric crystals at the focal point to generate electricity?

[samdekok72]

Dan, - your channel collector isnt a parabola - you've messed up the shape.

Yet another point - I recently built a passive heliostat that works by a bungee cord pulling one side of a collector down, offset by a bucket on the other side dripping water out over a day. It travels 180 degrees over the day. The next morning, I go feed the dog and tip the water from the lower bucket into the top and it starts again. Maybe mechatronic controls arent as cool as some of the old school ones. Keep going!

[robertwgardner]

Shoot a video of that, please! I'd love to see it.

I sketched a water clock/heliostat that might work with a float raised by water dripping into a bucket, but never built it. A ratcheted gear might help, but big mirrors also catch a lot of wind. Any green & simple mechanics will also have to be sturdy.

Another way that has been used to get around the heliostat issue is a long pipe at the focus of a "trough" reflector.

[samdekok72]

Dan - keep going, don't listen to the trolls.

Theres some points that come to midn though. You have some great proofs of concepts of components. Time maybe to stop maybe changing projects and chain a few together to get (dish+tesla turbine+generator = power) or (fresnel+steam engine+generator = power). Then you'll silence the critics.

[DajP0koj]

hi Dan, i just want to ask you about your Stirling engine project. Is it abandoned? You promised to share some experiences on building one but it has been a while now :( Have you thought of trying Tesla turbine powered by steam, they seem to be pretty effective, much more then steam engines. How about put one under the 'Rojas' hard testing? :) You`r doing great job, greetings from Europe.

[sjh7132]

If you would have recorded the amount of water and the approximate weight of the steel wool, we could have calculated the power you got off the mirror.

(Sorry, just trying to get some 'science' out of Green Power Science. :-)

[Dalophax]

This would be a great alternative to camp fires ( well almost since it won't work in the dark), but will be great to roast marshmellows with and it's less messy! No more looking for fire wood! :)

[tonocm]

why dont you put a glass pipe with a delay of 160 seconds (or whatever it took to boil) and then connect that water to your house hot water faucet?

[SINCLAIRRESEARCH]

hi

Why dont you use a copper vessel for boiling the water . with a convection water supply so when its heating its circulating into a larger boiler for later use eg A BATH ! or for a nice cup of Tea !!! we do this all the time with a coal fire as we dont get that thing in the sky you guys call the sun , as we live in the land of rain and cloud usually called england .

take care

keith

[codygillespie]

I had been thinking about the same thing, about the steel loosing lots of heat. This is the solution i had thought of:

Still using a steel pipe or whatever but insulating the entire pipe very well except the the small spot where the light contacts it.

[cheapbeersucks]

Not ture James.. Theres a reason he does this! he gets ppl to buy his stuff from his store.

[jamescatania]

I been watching most of your videos, and honestly I always end up saying WHY !?, You do noghitng, anyone can pick up or buy a mirror and just boil water or burn wood, It is completely impractical, you have to follow the sun, why don't you make something that actually can work for a change and actually help the enivorment , all you do is waste water and burn wood?, IT"S AMAZING YOU CAN BOIL WATER !, NOT !

[Anothercoilgun]

This is a tutorial. He needs not document every aspect of his life. What are you doing is the real question?  Do you know what inspiration is? Go learn it and when you return sit back and watch the videos.

Stop putting your self in the long line of those people I highly hold in my mind as a bunch of completely mindless block heads.

Sorry about that Dan :) One got out my cage this morning but I made sure to double check the locks from now on!

[jamescatania]

Are you some kind of groupie?. I have every right to my opinion and to air it, other people have pointed towards the same direction. Inspiration !?, Do you call this inspiration, I call this a waste of energy, water and wood, in a series of I don't know how many videos, he almost never shows anything other than burning wood.

And I will repeat, Everyone can go out and buy a parabolic mirror and boil some water,

This is not green science. It's a way of keeping Dan occupied for 10 minutes.

[roidroid]

You can't hate it that much jamescatania - you're subscribed to the channel.

[callmeshane303]

Yay!!!! Tits in METRIC....

I drink about 1800 liters of tea a year, it costs about $45 worth of electricity to do it.

I also want an URN filled with more or less boiling water, as I don't like waiting around for the kettle to boil and or forgetting is has boiled and having to leave my computer to reboil it.

So I want to make a SOLAR water boiler, a solar cooker and a solar water heater. So I am making said solar heaters.

Putting the FINE stainless steel wool in the bottle is a BRILLIANT idea

[callmeshane303]

I have just picked up 38 x 30cm square mirror tiles (about 1 square foot) and I can really go to town on making a solar kettle, stove and water heater, and I figure that I can also cut my domestic electricity consumption down to about 20 - 30% of the current requirements.

[pankajpmhatre]

It would be nice if there would be a reflective surface stuck on the side of the bottle opposite to one which get the heat so that it will not let any heat ray pass through & make it more efficient.

[netstepb]

All you have to do there is mirror the external side wiht silver nitrate or even blacken the bottle/container to absorb the thernal energy!!

[anger42]

one question....why the banjo

[jcanivan]

yes it is amazing that the bottle does not brake. probably because the temp is fairly uniform. but the practical application of something like this has a long way to go.

[9887663]

Good idea!

How do you make such a mirror.

I watched your other utube about making a mirror dish, you spoke about a mirror film. Where do you get it and about what is the cost?

[robfromorlando]

May I suggest using a high-temp metal coil that can heat small volumes of water quickly and efficiently? Sir Charles Shults is working on a similar concept to convert water to steam to power a generator.

[GUILDGOB]

Does the steel wool leave any harmful chemicals in the water? Or anyalter the taste?

[Raycheetah]

I wouldn't expect it to, any more than using stainless steel cookware. Nifty vid! =^[.]^=

[rossdawelder]

We need a GreenPower Science forum.

[bg0821]

cool. the steel wool is a great idea to pick up the suns rays without the glass having to get real hot. Waiting for an 8 foot dish.

[dimitriosart]

you said you made this parabolic mirror. How did you make this? What material is this made of? Can we make this? Where can we buy the material? Thanks

[felipipi]

look in his others vids, he got the answers for your questions

[taofledermaus]

Really cool. A very impressive amount of heat. Is there any fire danger? That would work great if you tied it into a hot water heater just using a gravity loop. Seems like tracking the sun might be a little comlex though.

[runway1300]

use a clear champagne bottle,they will withstand high pressure!

[Bergred]

Just use a canning jar,, they are designed for high heat and high pressure.

[runway1300]

how much pressure can a canning jar withstand???

[Anothercoilgun]

I am still waiting on that huge satellite dish project. What size is that about 70 inches?

[bennymcfarlane]

yay! I want one!

[capitanseven]

I like it. -- actually , I like all your videos.

You're quite talented especially in woodworking. AND

I can spell, unlike most of your other replies :)

[alaasadek]

Dan, we need a sun tracker please for that mirror.

[rossdawelder]

Any idea when you will have stirling engines for sale?

[trailbuddi]

I seen some vids where water is "flash boiled" in side an flat-like aluminum box. If your looking for a cheap method that needs a high pressure glass "window", maby try making a box, probably metal, that has a thick enough flat glass plate with some pressure abilities as the window to the fluid, probably cheaper than a complete glass pressure container, and easier to repair.

[trailbuddi]

This sounds good on paper, but I guess trying to find a gasket or method to seal in that kind of pressure might be hard.

[godsend420]

damn u rawk thats a big mirror

[NCHiker1970]

Always interesting and educational.  Once again I learned something. Great Video again.

[zws1922]

All this talking about steam got me thinging about making a solar aeolipile :D

The things that could have been created with ancient technology, and the path that could have been taken...

[myozone]

Cool, well HOT hmm.....

[breezebro]

I don't believe your story about the black eye. I've been waiting for this.... tell Denise to call me." : )P

[JavaLessons]

Nah, he been fighting.

Fighting an oil goon.

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

:-)

LOL

[GetMeThere1]

You should check out an old and clunky series of videos by user SkyPicturesInc regarding solar distillation. He just used boxes with black bottoms, and created a TREMENDOUS amount of high pressure steam.

I'd be interested to hear what you make of his system.

The interesting thing about making high pressure steam is that you can FIRST use it to do significant work, and THEN allow it to condense, for water purification.

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

AHHHHHHHHHH,

I have been looking for this for a while. THANK YOU. I think I actually saw this I live 55 miles N of Sarasota. My family use to travel there every year in the 80's and 90s. I saw this video before, just could never find it. WOW> THANK YOU.

[rossdawelder]

mason jar is clear & fairly strong

[czarwright]

Nice work =)

Peace

[csreeves]

Okay...that's cool...but maybe I'm just too much of a rookie to understand how I can live off-grid by boiling a snapple bottle full of water and steel wool. How can this "sun focusing" device be used to generate reliable, storable power for future use...say, later that night or next week?

[rockytube]

Just holding the dish and focusing the sun on a bottle for 3 minutes works great for a demonstration, but I don't think you'd want to stand there all day, from sunrise to sunset, to point the dish directly at the sun to heat your bottle or steam generator. For that you'd need a computer controlled heliostat. Which would track the sun across the sky and really complicate the design of your steam generator. At this point, if you get a lot of sun in your area, you're better off with solar panels.

[Winst0nOBoogie]

How about some certain number of gears ratio and a slow steady motor, all adding up to 180 degrees (with some minor adjustment)

[rockytube]

Well... It's going to have to reset and point back towards the east every night and be ready to start up at the right time everyday. Everyday the sun rises about a minute off from the day before. And everyday it's track across the sky is a little higher or a little lower (depending on the season) from the day before. Your gears and slow steady motor are going to have to account for all of this.

[Winst0nOBoogie]

Sure, your points are entirely correct.

and if the mirror was functioning on the surface of the moon instead of the back yard...,

and powering heart pacemakers instead of boiling a little water...

it would make the need for manual adjustments every few days much more critical.

Can I ask if your a programmer who creates software that tracks the sun? If you are, and you could use an atomic clock (instead of the one in your PC ) you might get slightly more efficient code...

[rockytube]

I was a programer 20 years ago. I programed in ML, Fortran, Cobol, D-Base, and MS-DOS. I started programing in 1981 on the Commodore64 in BASIC.

[Winst0nOBoogie]

Well that explains a lot.

[pinkytm1]

In the past people adjusted their lifestyle to the available light level. When its dark you should be sleeping.

[csreeves]

Excellent point...now what about the people who happen to live in areas like the Pacific Northwest of the USA (where it's overcast most of the time)...should they just adjust their lifestyle to sleep most of the year?!?

PS It would be great if ANYONE would take a stab at answering my original question: " This is neat, but how do we find practical use for it to generate and store energy?"

[trailbuddi]

Probably the most efficient storage would be use for hot water, direct or indirect through heat exchanger. If the steam was used to generate electricty and stored, there would be a loss of energy or efficiency of the initial sun heat, if it was to just be converted back to hot water. Hot water accounts for a large part of the electric use/cost in a house. I think the hot water can be stored in insulated tanks.

[csreeves]

Got it...thanks.

Question: Let's say I wanted to run a steam engine...can you point me in the right direction for one that exists that would do the job of (aka sized for an off grid small home instead of a child's science fair project)...I haven't found one yet.

Thanks.

[trailbuddi]

I'm generally don't know, this stuff is hard to come by and costs alot but this might be what you are thinking of watch?v=2LOcyjZthsg however it's not very green since it does not use the sunlight for heat

[roidroid]

csreeves, a youtube user named "chezgreens" has an interesting new design of steam engine that may suit your needs.

I believe the simplest way would be to couple it with a trough type solar concentrator to create steam.

It's of course easiest to do anything if you have near limitless space - to make up for any inefficiencies any "home made" setup would no doubt suffer from.

[cj2176]

hey csreeves.. rookie is not a bad thing. Heat is energy, simple enough. check out some vids on ( Stirling engines ) then on ( Sun solar systems ) Educate yourself and it will blow your mind. There are a ton of these machines that can turn solar heat into usable machanical energy for us to use to make our lives much better....!