giant fabricated heat cycle engine

[fireman]

I have always thought that a heat cycle engine could be fabricatedout of structural steel and other appropriate materials and built large enough to
generate larger amount of electricity from heat generated by the sun. This facility could take up acres in a desert like land area that normally would not offend many environmentalists . I believe if it were designed as efficiently as is possible the massive engine could generate more hours than there would normally be sun through heat storage systems of some type.

What do reader of this forum think of such a thing ?

[vamoose]

Hey fireman,
Welcome to the forum..

Here's a solar farm that reflects and concentrates solar radiation onto a heat collecting tower, the heat is then transported down in a molten-salt and used to create steam to power turbines. It can also be stored in insulated reservoirs and used at night.



Also there are some large experimental farms using parabolic reflectors and stirling engines that have recently been developed.
With differing degrees of sucess
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=en ... uQo7Ik0&NR

This video isnt the best example as the engines are very noisy and actually the company has gone bust.
Its still an interesting watch though. (turn down the volume )

Is this kind of what your discussing?