Stirlingengineforum.com

Yes I just saw that video a few days ago a matter of fact! I also agree that the aluminum could be flaky... I’ve seen that there is “mirror tape” that supposedly has 90%+ reflectivity. I haven’t run into that at Lowe’s yet but it might be worth a shot for the sake of simplicity. Sounds like a simila...

Great info! I’ll look more into the tin foil satellite dish option and post anything helpful i find in this thread, or if i complete the project.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Mostly for fun (certainly not to power my home or anything), although I’d like to get at least a 10 watt output. So, I wouldn’t want to buy a $100+ mirror or lens but polishing or making one may be an option. I believe greenpowerscience has some videos about that I will look into.

You make a good point. I will run the engine off of a flame of some sort at first for testing purposes to ensure it works somewhat efficiently and then switch to solar power later I suppose. I expect that you’re right and I will need a larger lens, or large mirror. Do you know if a mirror is better ...

Ok good to know, thanks. At the moment I have a 11.75x8.5 inch (kind of odd dimensions) fresnel lens. I’m located in Texas so I should have a good amount of sun intensity. I tested the lens out yesterday and it easily burnt a patch of dead grass but couldn’t do much else. I didn’t have it focused on...

Hello everyone I am attempting to build a beta type engine that uses a 3" diameter piston cylinder. I would like to heat this via fresnel lenses, but I am unsure of how much heat the lenses produce and what my piston/displacer dimensions should be relative to that. From what I've read, a lens m...