CHATGPT convo

[entropy]

Can anyone who knows the math validate chatGPT's findings?

To determine the size of the Stirling engine and Fresnel lens needed to run a typical Western home in *****, Ontario, several factors must be taken into account, such as the energy needs of the home, the available sunlight in the region, and the efficiency of the system.

As a rough estimate, a typical Western home in Canada uses between 10,000 and 20,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year. Assuming an average energy consumption of 15,000 kWh per year, and assuming an average sunlight availability of 4 hours per day in *****, Ontario, a 10 square meter Fresnel lens with an efficiency of 68% could produce around 27,200 kWh per year.

If we assume a Stirling engine efficiency of 40%, the system could generate up to 10,880 kWh per year. This would be enough to cover the electricity needs of the average Western home in *****, Ontario.

In terms of the size of the Stirling engine, this would depend on the specific design and output power of the engine, which in turn would depend on the size of the Fresnel lens and the amount of sunlight available. As a rough estimate, a Stirling engine with an output power of around 5-10 kW should be sufficient to meet the energy needs of a typical Western home.

Assuming an average energy consumption of 15,000 kWh per year, and an average sunlight availability of 4 hours per day in ****, Ontario, a 10 square meter Fresnel lens with an efficiency of 68% could produce around 27,200 kWh per year.

[Tom Booth]

For what it's worth, I got a second opinion:

Resize_20230428_060128_8153.jpg (33.18 KiB) Viewed 2995 times

[skyofcolorado]

Not to dissuade you from a creative endeavor, but energy-wise that's about equivalent to a 20kw PV array, or about $5k USD if you scrounge around for surplus panels.

Have you worked out the price of that other stuff? Easily equivilant to the cost of a new home, if you can even buy an engine of that size as an individual.

Personally, I'm scouring ebay hoping to find a surplus RTG from an abandoned radio tower that will just sit quietly in my basement outputting power 24/7. One can dream..

[entropy]

Asked chatgpt and they said the engine costs roughly 15k and no one can make fresnel lenses that big since WW2... wonder why...

There is just so much heat created from fresnel lenses, that I'm shocked we can't utilize it to generate affordable energy..

We are already being bombarded by radiation, don't think I need something along more in the basement...

[Tom Booth]

Practically speaking, regardless what the chat bot might be programmed to spit out, you probably wouldn't want to use a fresnel lense that was 10 square meters as I'm pretty sure the heat from that would instantly vaporize your engine.


https://youtu.be/i_8cynWnAw8


Tracking the sun might prove to be a little awkward as well.

A trough solar collector using smaller linear fresnel lenses would be more manageable in regard to both heat and tracking, but even a large linear fresnel lenses could still reach about 900° (according to the https://greenpowerscience.com/SHOPFRESNELHOME.html website) which I think would still be challenging to work with. I don't know of any comercial heat transfer fluid that could handle more than about 600°F