PARABOLIC DISH MIRROR PARABOLOID HOMEMADE SOLAR CONCENTRATOR

[teharley69]

Will aluminized polyester (like emergency blankets are made of) work to mirror a surface?

[lowerarkanasadrummer]

Steam raises weight that falls and generates electricity. Sun heats the water. This doesn't work? Don't bother? Ok. Then pay that electric bill.

[kendigjl]

Couldn't you just lay a thick sheet of plastic over the inside of the water heater and heat it up until it softens and melts to correct shape?

[hknboss]

i couldn't find the part where you give a parabolic shape a mirror.

[allaroundpro1]

im making one for a math project ^^

[claykb]

Where is part 2?

[volkodv1]

бесполезная ху...ня!!!

[UpNorthLiving2011]

what about if you used clay molding over the form instead of concrete? but then again you already have the concrete mold made that will last FOREVER!

[prototype9000]

plexiglass and a heat gun would work to

[chiliboy82]

nice crotch!

[akamburov]

Great movie!

Now I just need to find that tutorial on homemade-green-high-intensity-­lasers and ... voila ... I'll have my own homemade Deathstar ;)

[QuaziGNRLNose]

is the bottom of a water tank really a perfect parabola?

[guruji243]

You could do it directly in the gallon of water no need of the siment mould.

[marcoc1p8]

why don't use an old parabolic satellite antenna??

[loebas667]

What exactly is green about this with all the concrete and throwing away stuff hahaha it gets better and better, plastic, resin, and you throw it all away including the clothes. I can see how you charge a few hundred bucks for that. The sci idea is sort of valid but the green claim is faulty. So ten out of ten for the idea, but minus several million for the execution.

[crazywaters]

Try nickel-plated WOKs people..... cheaper, faster, and they work like magic :-)

[rudeboyzero]

So you just happen to stumble across an old water tank that happens to have parabolic endcaps...?

Also, If you use a gelcoat before you start laying glass, you get a MUCH better finish on your product. In fact, the finish will be as good as the mould, without further finishing work.

So use a gelcoat, and prep your mould to perfection, that way you get a really finished product out of the mould.

[theonlyreallaz]

try with gypsum.

[crazywaters]

I use another method. I buy used 50cm WOKs from restaurants , then clean them, sandblast them, and dip them in molten nickel using electroplating bath just like people make their bike parts shiny. works great, is faster, and reauires less material and effort, without dangerous chemicals

[theonlyreallaz]

@crazywaters great idea to use a WOK!

I'm going to give a try to your method using just SprayMounth glue and tin foil : )

[MrWorld09]

For a "green" project it seems like the concrete, gloves, brushes, and aerosol cans used make up a lot of waste that hardly seems to make the project worth it. I feel like buying the parabolic dish from a company whose machines can make them more effectively would allow them to dispose of waste efficiently using economies of scale. This is a cool "how it works" video though. I would just recommend someone to go buy one from a responsible company rather than DIY.

[antcowan]

why not just use the convex side of the tank to make the fibreglass parabloic and save making a "concrete thingy" as bean metioned

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

@antcowan The convex side is rusty and pitted. Also fiberglass can stick to metal even if waxed especially if textured.

[shaadydog1]

@antcowan because you would be using the imperfect side for mirror film that would have the brush and fibre imperfections showing, you want to make the cast so you get the smooth side on the reflection side of the mirror, not the back side of the mirror.

[guitarrarl]

an engineer friend uses duck tape on the molds to avoid the resin to stick to the mold and it gives a very smooth finish.

[social3ngin33rin]

Bet your are their #1 non-commercial customer :) for recycled concrete

[shaadydog1]

I was wondering if plaster would be a viable option on this to save some weight  for handling and finishing?

[alexbimos]

Problem with what you show here is simple...You have used a tone of toxic products that just kill this planet ...it's all nice but not at all GREEN

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

@alexbimos NOPE, concrete base recycled, only small amount of portland cement. Your computer you are on has 100+ the waste in creation of one dish. Use the dish 10 times to cook with vs electric and your carbon offset is done. Everything, other than living in a cave requires something taxing natural resources. The goal, make something usable.

[loebas667]

@GREENPOWERSCIENCE in the vid it looks like the whole cement bag goes in but i guess thats not the case then. still, i also doubt the green claim. (sorry)

[superdave54811]

@GREENPOWERSCIENCE More POWER to you sir! I just made a comment to @MrCommonsense about the whole CO2 comment he made. I did the research on CO2 and the whole GREENHOUSE GAS GARBAGE. I know that water holds around 2 times the heat energy than any gas on Earth. I keep shaking my head at how many people also never consider that the Earth has cycles of hot and cold. Ice ages and warmer ones. You will find that life thrived here on Earth during warmer times. So what is all the fuss about?

[scooter21122112]

i dunno seems like alot of waste to make something thats supposed to save

[MrHarry46]

bean432......think it ALL THE WAY THROUGH dude. If he would have just waxed the inside of the end of the vessel then put fiberglass into it he would have THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF AN INWARD FOCUSED MIRROR hence.......the rays of the sun would be SCATTERED.. NOT BROUGHT TOGETHER

[sc0rpi0n0]

Dan, thank you for making this video. It's great to know the process of making a parabolic mirror.

[MrComonsense]

At 1 ton of CO2 per 1 ton of concrete....500,000lbs is A LOT for 1 person!...How's your "co2 foot print" going there Dan? LOL Just teasing mate...I'm sure there is an environmental "bent" to the build..

Did you measure the shape of this parabolic tank end?? Is it in fact a parabolic shape or just a dish?..EG: will it concentrate the suns rays or merely reflect them??

Cheers

[bean432]

why didn't you just wax in the container at the start and put the fiber glass in it rather than making the big cerment thingy?

[kurisu925]

Because then the inside of the parabolic dish would not have been as smooth. Its smoothness is a key factor in how effective it is.

[lasersailorman]

@bean432 It has to do with the molding process, every mold that has only one side will have a 'finished' and an 'unfinished' side on the molded part. fiberglass by itsself is really quite rough but will take on the finish of whatever it is laid to wet, in this case the concrete. The more time that is spent preparing the plug (concrete in this case) the better the finished side of the molded part will be, since you want a substrate that will eventually make a mirror, smooth is good. Make sense?

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

EXCELLENT explanation! THANK YOU:-)

Dan

[satoakimartinez]

@bean432 if he did that the concave surface on the final project would be turn out very rough. The whole aim of the project is to make the concave surface as smooth and mirror-like as possible.

[pgm98387]

This may be a stupid question, maybe someone has already tried this.

What if you fill a 4-6ft diameter rigid plastic pool with very fine concrete mix.

Once the pool is filled to 12-18in of mix, rotating the pool with a motor

at a very constant rate of spin 30 60 revolutions per minute the cement will harden into the shape of the depression.

Question, once the cement sets, will it have formed into a parabolic shape? or a cone shape?

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

That will work with water and cement would work with some forming help. You would get the general shape, add more water so it is mushy. It would take a rater elaborate system as any off balance issues would be impossible to fix as it would be very heavy.

I think filling a pool and turning a 12 dimensional parabola in the center would work better.

Thank you for the great comment. What do you think?

[shopken1]

Why is not the finished product shown at the start of the video so you know if you want to watch it?

[zker666]

is everything you do have to be "recycled" per say?

[gricka31]

pretty cool, actually really inscructional, unlike loads of other "instructional videos" on the web. i think simple but efficient methods like these are somewhat forgotten in the highh tech world of alternative power sources. Is that really parabolic? surely only if the bottom of the tank is parabolic, but is it?

[khryzalids]

that is an interesting way of living. i wish i could do that.. (lol u cant do those kinds of jobs in ny apartments)

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

watch?v=FZh-CRneIII

[zymandu]

i noticed that automobile windshields seem to have a somewhat parabolic shape. Do you know of any certain windshields would be feesible to make a parabolic mirror or be used as a mould to make a fiberglass one?

[jakylili]

i wonder if u sell the mirror...

[dimitriosart]

Hi Dan, absolutely love your channel. Question, I see you are using existing shapes of pot lids or the bottom of this tank as your parabolic shape. Would imagine they were not designed for this purpose, why don't you let's say use the parabolic formula to make the most efficient parabolic dish or does this not really matter so much for solar purposes?

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Hi,

Thank You for the nice comment:-)

I have some parabolas, they are a bit better but it really does not make a big difference. Spherical shapes produce the same temperatures within 5%. The time factor, making several is better than 1 perfect IMHO.

The reflective surface is what delivers the most power.

Dan

[ronaldgrider]

Hey I would like to see you do a project with an old satelite dish there is a 12ft one for 100 bucks here in Vegas..

[jsec88]

Hey Dan, couldn't you just cut the tank bottom, flip it over and use that as a mold? would save you the concrete work.

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Yes, but most tanks are "used" and heavily rusted. If you sand and fix it your shape usually changes too dramatically. Also the inner portion of the tank has a slightly uneven surface. Fiberglass resin tends to adhere to treated metal. The rim also is crimped and if you get resin in that, you are done.

The concrete is cheap and easy to work in the open, you can also make multi molds.

[centervilletn]

um...why cant you just use some old direct tv or dish network dishes? they are everywhere...

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

You can, they just are smaller and the focal point is broader so you get a larger lower temperature spot. They actually work great overall.

[Mirjana7]

Well done, thanks. I would like to see how the solar concentrator looks when it is finished and used. Also, how big can the fiber glass be?

Anyway, thanks a lot, this is an example for others how to make good videos.

[pipersmitty87]

I can see you put your heart into your projects. Great Job, you are the man.

[pipersmitty87]

why cant you just use a sledding disk for a mold? Just asking.

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

You can but they are usually made out of pebbled plastic, some are not. The pebbled type you cannot stick anything to.

[PhuqueU]

You should repost the video with an add-on at the end with gibetheridge's safty warning, because people might forget later and we often download/save vids for later. Anyway, can that mold be made with plaster?

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Yes, but plaster requires a lot of release, it also may pick.

[gibetheridge]

You failed to point out that even the smallest amount of methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP, the hardener) in your eye will cause serious and irreversible damage. The stuff is so bad that even if you got it in your eye while you were in the emergency room there would be nothing anyone could do to stop or repair the damage. Wear safety glasses! Don't touch your face! Wash your hands after disposal of the gloves!

[exortus]

This is just awesome, I were always fascinated on building "gadgets" like this one. I live in Brazil and gas is a little bit expensive, so i think ill build one of these to cook my food :p

Thanks for sharing.

[dannyknapp]

awesome !

[offyam]

mylar heat blanket.

[labidus74]

Nice video thanks for the info

[Coodude26]

Good vid.

Also I think it's called "gravel". :)

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

The grabble term is a slang a concrete company used. Because it is not natural rock technically. I think they made the name up. Thank you for the comment.

[kenarnie15]

why not just use an old satalite tv dish???

[saifaladdin1986]

good green power science

[FHomeBrew]

There must be an easyer and ceaper way, right? Probably faster too. I don't have the resources used in this vid...

[enyawix]

Yes he did this the hard way. He also spent more time and money than needed. I will make a response video. Concrete was not needed for this project. The deal with the saw was very unsafe.

[aadityaa4]

I remember using a chemical process of making a mirror from mercury out of transperent glass. But then you need a glass lined dish.

[aadityaa4]

Duffer, what was the need for the concrete mould ? you could have made the dish directly on the barrel

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

The concave part needs to be perfectly smooth. If you made it in the metal mold. then the back would be smooth and the inside too uneven.

[aadityaa4]

hmm.. that means i am the duffer, you are a genius !!

[cdltpx]

When I was in industrial plastics (AKA fiberglass) we would use a wax as a release agent but we would use compressed air too to help the part come off. Next mold you make place a valve stem to reach the bottom so you can attach a 12v tire inflator on the bottom and the part will pop off. Where your part will be just place a piece of tape or plastic over so the resin don't fill your air tube.

[yashar714]

what is PARABOLIC DISH used for

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

For solar heat collection in our projects. WIFI for other applications.

[CALAMACOBRELOA]

YOU SPEAK ESPAÑOL? MR ROJAS

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

C.... Just a little bit. I understand about half of what I hear. I can actually read it better from all the international emails. Google translation helps.

[BILLNYYE]

Is there a big difference between spherical shapes and a parabola?

[ohmslaw111]

How much resin does it take to make a thick one.

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Thick about 1/3 of a gallon. Costs about $20 to make one.

[solardeathraysun]

OH TY for the video!

[solardeathraysun]

That is sweeeeet. We have an old tank that I just might have to chop up. What did you use to cut it.

[ohmslaw111]

I would use a circ saw with a metal cutting blade.

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Yes, that is what I used.

[cdltpx]

If you catch it just right you can trim the excess with a razor the surface will be just be getting warm but not sticky slightly pliable. Temp and humidity will play a part in the amount of time it takes the catalysts to set off the reaction. Warmer the faster your reaction. When it was cold we would have to add something else to the MEKP in order to get the chemical reaction. Forgot what it was but it was pink.

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Thank you for the great idea, I never thought of cutting it before it hardens. Class A CDL, awesome.

[ALTERNATIVEENERGYDRI]

When will the mirror stuff be on your website?

[idahodad1]

Nice demonstration. thanks.

[Dave51262]

Great video. Thank you for posting. I was really anxious to see how you made this. Look forward to part 2.