Solar "Death Ray": Power of 5000 suns!

The R5800 solar concentrator is made from an ordinary fiberglass satellite dish. It is covered in about 5800 3/8" (~1cm) mirror tiles. When properly aligned, it can generate a spot the size of a dime with an intensity of 5000 times normal daylight. This intensity of light is more than enough to melt steel, vaporize aluminum, boil concrete, turn dirt into lava, and obliterate any organic material in an instant. It stands at 5'9" and is 42" across.
Unfortunately, the R5800 was completely destroyed in a storage shed fire on December 14, 2010, about 8 months after filming this video. It has been replaced by the R23k, which has 23,000 mirrors and a concentration power of 10,000 times daylight.
_
music: "hypnothis" www.incompetech.com
provided under creative commons liscence

_______
Calculations:
Area of dish aperture (elliptical)= (pi x 102cm x 73cm)/4 = 5848 sq cm
Area of focal point (circular)= pi(0.6cm)^2 = 1.14 sq cm
____________________
R5800 (Shown in video)

Dish Type= 0.7m x 1m offset focus elliptical.
Concentration Power= 5000x
Output Power Estimate = 560 watts

___________________________________
R23k (New version replacing R5800) Stats:

Dish Type= 1.2m x 1.3m offset focus elliptical.
Concentration Power= 10,000x
Output Power Estimate= 1130 watts.
Mirrors= 23000 of 1cm width triangular mirror tiles

• Category

  Entertainment

[EricJacqmain]

The R23k is practically finished. All of the mirrors are attached and it is 100% functional. After some experimenting and final adjustments, it will be ready to go on camera for the big video. 

[robart smith]

Very simple thing to do...

use parabolic mirror to make heat

and make the string engine rotate

just like it is explained in this website

Solar-Stirling.info

[Rodri Fernandes]

man that was ammazing

[Raidernick27]

v sauce

[EricJacqmain]

Two main reasons: 1) The focal point is very small and the majority of the energy is going to the target. 2) The tips of the pliers do get very hot, but the heat is conducted into the body and handles.

Fun fact- The pliers in the video were recovered from the shed fire that destroyed the R5800 and will be used in the R23k video. 

[aMidnightBreeze]

I've seen the same comment by you on several videos now. Stop spamming. With one comment I was tempted to take a look, but now I'm more inclined to flag every one as spam.

[EmanuelJeronymo --]

Eric, can you answer why the pliers didn't burn?

[Callum Farrar]

I want one

[ricardogameboy]

Nice but,use glooves or something...

[zerstreut1996]

Just saw you in a german TV show! looks very nice!!

[Jimenez Schaefer Costa]

Man, im waiting for this moment for a long time. I´ve watched yout solar death ray almost 2 years ago and is one of the most impressive videos of youtube. You should invest on this solar energy stuff and start to create a comapny around your engagements. Have you ever thinl about it?

[pSycE1648]

Esto ya lo inventó Arquímedes...pero mola xD