hirajanwin / solar_concentrator

Homemade automated solar concentrator πŸ”§ β˜€οΈ πŸ”Ž

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Solar Concentrator β˜€οΈ

This project is a homemade automated solar concentrator πŸ”§ β˜€οΈ πŸ”Ž

Overview

It consists of:

  • An orientable mirror panel (currently 48 focusing mirrors, totaling 1mΒ²)
  • A fixed target (currently a simple concrete oven with a black metal plate and a tempered glass)
  • The supervisor: an electronic control device that measures the target, computes and sends commands to the motors

Solar Concentrator

On 26 june 2024, when adding some aluminium foil inside the oven to improve insulation, the oven temperature has risen to 210Β°C after 30 minutes.

The video below shows the concentrator in action on 8 July 2024:

  • First half of the video is the assembly (speed x10)
  • Second half is the automatic sun tracking for about 7 hours (speed x600)
solar_concentrator_manip_20240708.mp4

Caution

Caution

⚠️⚠️ THIS PROJECT MAY HARM PEOPLE OR ANIMALS IN THE SURROUNDINGS ⚠️⚠️

It can cause permanent blindness, burn skin or ignite objects.

Even when the concentrator is not powered, the sun remains concentrated 48 times in a single small area.

This focal point is constantly moving along a path that is difficult to predict.

In its current state, it must be continuously monitored and the mirrors must be covered quickly in the event of an anomaly.

Key points

  • Can produce up to about 1000 watts of heat while consuming 3.8 watts of electrical power πŸ’°
  • Uses only standard, cheap and available components and materials 🧱 πŸ”©
  • Does not require a high precision construction, everything can be built by hand with common tools πŸ“ πŸͺš
  • Easy to assemble and disassemble πŸͺ›
  • Easy to understand and modify πŸ”Ž
  • Open source πŸ”“

Limitations of this version:

  • There is no safety layer implemented (see warning above ⚠️)
  • An initial manual step is required to orient the panel before it can automatically track the sun.
  • Only one panel can be controlled
  • Does not work on cloudy days (it is the user's responsibility to remove the clouds from the sky πŸ˜„)
  • Power consumption could be significantly reduced through the implementation of various low-power modes

To build this project, some products were happily "hacked" out of their original use:

Technical breakdown

The project structure reflects the technical breakdown.

Detailed information can be found in the corresponding subfolders:

Next step

The next step is to control any number of panels to obtain a power output of several kilowatts.

This would open up the following possibilities:

  • Quickly boil a large volume of liquid
  • Desalinate or sterilize a large volume of water
  • Cook or sterilize a large volume of food
  • Melt plastic, metal or glass
  • Increase the output of photovoltaic panels with concentrated photovoltaics

License

Copyright (C) 2024 RΓ©mi Peuchot

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Homemade automated solar concentrator πŸ”§ β˜€οΈ πŸ”Ž


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