While dish Stirling has clear challenges as a technology, CSP Today investigates whether any other kind of engine on parabolic dishes could solve the problems.
By Jason Deign
While dish Stirling has clear challenges as a technology, it is not clear that sticking any other kind of engine on parabolic dishes could solve the problems.
What is really the problem with dish Stirling? As previously reported in CSP Today, dish Stirling is a technology that offers plenty of promise, particularly in terms of characteristics such as high solar power conversion efficiency and a modular design.
Despite this, though, it has failed to make its mark in commercial terms, raising questions over its effectiveness.
Experts such as Dr Eduardo Zarza Moya of the Spanish Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technology Investigation (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas or CIEMAT in Spanish) believe this may be due to the nature of the engine.
“This has to work at temperatures above 600ºC and 100 to 200 bars of pressure,” he says. “Furthermore you are working with a gas that has to move through a closed cycle. That means you cannot have any leaks and there is a lot of friction and wear.
“This translates to a high cost of maintenance. The reliability and longevity of the motor are not good, which is why it is difficult to make it competitive.”
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