Stirlingengineforum.com

It is often claimed that the Stirling engine has too low a power/weight ratio, too high a cost, and too long a starting time for automotive applications. They also have complex and expensive heat exchangers. A Stirling cooler must reject twice as much heat as an Otto engine or Diesel engine radiator...

Sterling engines have an use with solar concentrators as a small scale renewable source (think remote locations). Using it as a primary, and also burning fuel to generate the heat for it is highly inefficient.

The Stirling engine, like most heat-engines, cycles through four main processes: cooling, compression, heating and expansion. This is accomplished by moving the gas back and forth between hot and cold heat exchangers. The gas follows the behavior described by the gas laws which describe how a gas's ...