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Solar Cooking and Beyond- Pursuing Best Cost Solar Concentration

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Presentation on theme: "Solar Cooking and Beyond- Pursuing Best Cost Solar Concentration"— Presentation transcript:

1 Solar Cooking and Beyond- Pursuing Best Cost Solar Concentration
Presented at the 2017 American Solar Energy Society Conference in Denver, Colorado Doug Simmers ABF Solar, LLC.

2 ABF Solar, LLC. Manufactures point-focus solar dishes for cooking applications And also pursues scaling of this technology for power applications

3 Goal- Best Cost Concentration
A Better Focus Co. is dedicated to designing and manufacturing a “best cost” concentrating solar dish Lowest materials cost Superior performance to glass mirror or polished metal systems Good weatherability (for thermal power applications)

4 Directed Energy Cooking
Long focus system Infinitely variable focusing from 10’ to 25’ Requires slight dish adjustment as the sun moves Many Cooking Accessories

5 Safety Considerations greater power requires greater diligence to safety
Wear sunglasses when looking at the focused light. Misdirected focused light can start a fire. Always cover dishes when unattended As with any type of cooking – cooking surfaces are HOT

6 Re-inventing vacuum-deformed mirror film dishes
- Reinventing point focus dishes utilizing mirror film instead of glass mirrors - vacuum deformed to focus sunlight. offers much lower cost than glass mirrors provides sufficient concentration light weight dishes enable lightweight tracking structures Infinitely variable focal lengths between 10 and 30 feet rapid defocusing for safety. Re-inventing vacuum-deformed mirror film dishes Mirror-reflective film is stretched across a perfectly round frame

7 This results in a string of focal points that are not the ideal parabolic shape, but results in temperatures of over 850F at stagnation Vacuum hold time is typically 2+ hours

8 Previous “stretched membrane” systems have had a checkered history
Learning from the past Problem- Poor film durability Solution- New films provide similar performance and service life to glass mirrors - Reflectech Solar, Div. of SkyFuels Note: cooking dishes use less expensive reflective mylar, and must be stored indoors Problem- Film wrinkling- past systems utilized stainless steel sheets or other heavy underlayments to inhibit wrinkling Solution- Annular floating batten with thermal tensioning Film wrinkling inhibited by internal floating battens, and thermal film tensioning US pat. # 7,374,301 B1 Film wrinkling typical, without underlayment Failed LaJet/Cummings Project Wrinkling inhibited via internal “floating battens” US pat. # 7,374,301 B1 Wrinkling inhibited via internal “floating battens” US pat. # 7,374,301 B1

9 Learning from the past- Previous “stretched membrane” systems have had a checkered history
Problem- Weatherability- high winds and abrasive particulate (again, cooking dishes would be brought inside during high wind events) Solution- Weathervaning tracker, rotates away from oncoming wind. Dishes flip up to reduce incident dish area. Prototype has survived outdoors for 9 years Haboob approaching Phoenix Note: cooking dishes use less expensive reflective mylar, and must be stored indoors Weathervaning tracking structure Dishes turn their backs to oncoming wind Dishes flip up, reducing incident area to the wind Failed LaJet/Cummings Project Wrinkling inhibited via internal “floating battens” US pat. # 7,374,301 B1 Wrinkling inhibited via internal “floating battens” US pat. # 7,374,301 B1

10 Latest Developments More precise concentrated spot- 850F + at stagnation Improved ability to project focal point 20’ 25’ 15’

11 Latest Developments Professional cooking system with two dishes, and sun-tracking frame Automated sun tracking Expanded to 4- dishes Enables small Power applications Spring, 2018 Looking for partners with a 3-5 kw (thermal) need

12 Summary ABF Solar dish technology is an effective and cost competitive method of concentrating solar thermal energy. Basic cooking systems offer many cooking methods Professional cooking systems offer manual sun tracking Automated sun tracking will be available in 2018 Scaling to 8’ diameter has been tested, and offers potential for future thermal power applications Cooking systems are being demonstrated in front of St. Cajetan’s church today, and tomorrow. Questions?


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