Charles Shults' Fresnel Solar Design - For a mind Blowing $1/Watt

I liked him more when he was drawing Snoopy....

Thanks for the pinnification Trin, when i read this i was blown away, especially since you can basically make one yourself.

But even if you do buy a ready made, $6000 is killer!

I live in Ontario, and here we have a gov. program called "The Standard Offer Program" which allows you to sell your solar power back to the power company for a fixed rate, and a contract for 20 years.

Thats great, but the real good news is we pay around 6 cents/kw here, but under the SOF, you can sell your power to the power company for 42 cents/kw.

money to be made!

*note: thats supposed to be SOP - standard offer program

here is the website:

[link to www.powerauthority.on.ca]

I like it! Notice the naysayers on the website are using safety regulations as a reason to kill this thing. Steam heat was the premiere means to heat homes and the primary source of power for all industrial plants for generations and posed no more risk than any other power source, in fact those original staem fitters and engineers of old invented the very rules and standrards they stand behind. Problem is most inspectors, regulators etc. are political appointees and, in one way or another, give right of way to fossil fuel companies. Tanks full of highly explosive gas feeding open flame furnaces are safer than sealed steam engines? Give us a break! Expect gov. resistance everywhere until the oil beast is dead or at least caged.

[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]

very nice.
A few questions to the energy knowledgeable.
1. Where do i get the lens
2. How much would the system cost in your opinion with the batteries for night time energy useage.
3. How many kilowatt hours would I need for an average home,and how many of these would be required?

is that 'killer' (6k bucks is a lot of money)...

killer bad or killer good?

(i have no idea what the mkt price for a current system is)

$1 a watt??? That ain't good.

My monthly electric bill is $35 - $40 (this is for a studio apt.) I use about 9 kilowatt hours per day, about 280 kilowatt hours per month. 1 watt ain't nothin'.

This is totally awesome! Having some EXP with PV systems, there's no way you can get PV for $1 per watt...unless maybe if you own the PV producing factory, lol.

Anyways...for DIY, I found a perfect step-by-step guide for making your own solar panels and all that; which is free. That's great because there are people trying to charge $$ for it. Give it a look if you are into DIY stuff (I have it BK myself):

[link to www.virtualsecrets.com]

L8!

and what if its cloudy and rainy.
Some people live in England you know.

For us wind power is the best but they control that strictly with planning permission. After all EON does not want to start loosing revenue now does it.

I am in UK and have just bought a home in noth France. The maximum input in to the house is 6KW and that is more than enough for a 5 bedroom house.
Fridge
washing machine
lighting
extra fan heater and a couple of small electric radiators and a few other things such a micro wave, kettle etc
Remember that not all appliences will be used at the same time.
Although we have a wood burner and the central heating is with oil but the boiler does require electric for pump and running the boiler.
Cooker is from a gas bottle.

All in all 6KW has been more than enough for us.peace

Praise The Holy Of Holy :: I'm going to save some old big screen lenses and play around with them ! This is a very powerful lens that I was completely ignorant off ! Thanks OP :: Praise the savior :: Amen

I was going to use solar pannels for my house in France but then i realised that it would take me over 15 years to actually break even and get my money back. that does not include the fact that by then i would need new ones or have to repair them.
they make sure that it is not cost effective for anyone to do it in UK

Nice find op!

[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]

theres a link on that page

Thanks for the reply guys!

That's $1. per watt "capacity," not cost per watt consumed.

It is a fun shop project and I have to tip my hat to Shults' idea. That said, I don't think I would want to stand anywhere near one of these critters while it was on line.

I spent 8 years in the Navy as a Machinist Mate and worked main spaces. The first six years were sea duty where I got daily, hands on experience with steam powered turbine systems, 600 and 1200 psi, main propulsion and SSTGs. After leaving the Navy I worked for 4 years as a shop machinist while going to school, so I also have experience in machine tool technology and metalurgy.

The things that would concern me the most about being even remotely close to one of these generators are:

1) Materials used.
2) Safety.
3) The cost and scheduling of preventative maintenance.
4) Monitoring the system while it is in operation.

Without an overspeed trip, steam side safety valves, good maintenance and the ability to "kill" the system from a distance, you are begging for trouble. I wouldn't want to see one of these turbines get up to speed if it was put together by someone who doesn't know how to properly align the turbine and generator kit or dynamicly balance the turbine.

At the least, Shults isn't giving info on the parameters of the steam side, so we have no idea if the steam is saturated or superheated, if it's a closed loop system or not and we have no idea what equipment he is using on the condensate side of the main steam cycle. No idea of how he is combating corrosion on the steam generation side of the cycle either.

Still, it's a fun shop project.

I hear ya! I have a similar pedigree to you and I'm currently in the IUOE ( [link to www.iuoe.org] stationed in commerical plants, but I would think powering a single family home would require relatively low pressure and with as many new advanced safeguards as are now available, this could probably end up being one of the safest ways to heat and energize a home! It would require MUCH more vigilance on the part of the homeowner, but I think it's a grand idea!

Dammit! My previous post cut out a lot! the rest went:

I would think that powering a single family home would require low psi and with as many safeguards as are currently available, it might end up being one of the safest methods for heating and energizing the home! It will require MUCH more vigilance on the part of the homeowner, but I still think it's a grand idea.

Double damn! heres that link again. [link to www.iuoe.org]

old color tv's have fresnel lenses in front of the tube. So if you can find one in a garage sale or somethin' you're cheap startin'

It's always nice to see a response from someone who knows what he's talking about.

This is a nice idea, but it's probably not for the unskilled amatuer. There's a lot of power in a steam engine. Lots of dead 19th century paddle boat passengers would attest to that.

The “BUCKEYE BELLE” Disaster
November 12, 1852
[link to www.riverboatdaves.com]

A fresnel lense can be found in the older style projectors, you know the ones with a square base that you put a transparent sheet on with a light inside...

Like school overhead projectors.

The big square lense that the sheet sits on is a fresnel lense.

Very powerful lense.

Can melt a penny just from sunlight, creates such a hot spot that one needs welding goggles to look at it.

They are fun to play with.

A simple T&P valve from an old water heater could solve the pressure problem, no?

And if the system were used to spin a factory made and tested turbine then what's the problem?

I don't have too much knowledge in this area, but certainly one could buy what they needed to make this a safe project?

What would you say are the chances of someone getting hurt attempting this?

[link to www.3dlens.com]

It is an interesting way of heating and providing electricity to a home but the needed vigilance by the homeowner, as you rightfully pointed out, might get him killed.

Low psi means little around a steam system. I once saw a relief valve "remove" itself from an exhaust steam system, about 18 psi, and it filled the main space with steam in seconds. Steam VOLUME is the killer as it will displace oxygen from a confined space in seconds.

Volumes of steam is what is needed to drive a generator kit. Once you load the generator the pressure and volume of steam in the line will dip, therefore the generation of steam on that end of the cycle will increase to maintain the load. I would also add that if the generator and turbine aren't properly coupled and the turbine suddenly finds itself with no load... well... bar the door Katie! High velocity rotor blades! Woo-Hoo!

So, imagine you are tucked into bed, sleeping the sleep of a king and snoring like mad. Suddenly you are awakened by a loud POP from the basement or shed immediately followed by a sound that makes you think a 747 is at full power outside your bedroom door. The wife wakes up, screams at you like a banshee, the kids scream for Mommy and the dogs whimper and and maybe poop on their little doggie beds. Of course this would all be followed by a second POP and the jingle jangle sounds of steel shrapnel bouncing around.

Vigilance can only go so far when you have a steam turbine running at your cozy abode.

Use Helium not water and it doesn't take the temps needed to flash boil water (no Fresnel lens). The "turbine" doesn't need to be anything special an automobile air conditioning compressor fitted with check valves and pressure relief valves work nicely.

This system has been operational for some time as a test bed for a larger unit and doesn't use the temps used for steam although the pressure is still there.

Extreme caution should be used in any project using high pressure!

Test play experiment and have fun!

Are you familiar with an outfit called Solavolt International? It was a JV between Motorola and Shell Oil back in the late '80s / early '90s. I worked there for a while, and also attended some symposia at FSEC in Cocoa Beach. Were you ever in the field? I've tried to keep up with the industry since I went back to the defense side, but it's been hard....

In any event, welcome!!