Parabolic Trough Prototype

Introduction

Gang Xiao, professor at University of Nice, France, has developed a low-cost parabolic trough solar thermal concentrator, applicable to electricity production. He is pursuing the steam engine as the heat engine of choice.

Factor e Farm is interested in evaluating the performance of this system by building a prototype. Here are the detailed instructions for prototype deployment.

Bill of Materials

Estimation of the material cost for 1m² of collector. The costs are in dollars.

Use	Material	Specification	Quantity	Cost
Cover	tempered glass	5mm	1.05m2	?
Back and ends	steel sheet	0.5mm	1.6m2	?
Structural pieces	stainless steel bars and angles	width around 15mm	~15m	?
Bearings	metal tubes	φ40mm×20mm	2	2
Support	Plastic pieces	to be moulded	2	2?
Photodetector	photoresistors+case	-	1	2?
Controller + gear	commercially available	-	1	10-30
Receiver	metal tube	configurable	~1.2m	~5
Chassis	square steel tubes	30mm	~3m	5?

Structural pieces - what is the thickness, and how much of it is angle and how much of it is bar?

--- Roughly, half-half.

Can the support pieces be printed with RepRap if we have access to it?

--- Yes.

Can you show a picture and dimensions of the plastic pieces?

--That will come.

Specify photodetector and photoresistor, plus size of case

--- See my DIY document.

One axis controller, and what about the control motor?

Show the angle tilt mechanism.

Diameter and wall thickness of collector tube?

--- These are interchangeable.

What about reflective coating?

--- Mylar film.

What about couplers for collector tube and inter-collector connection for stringing multiple collectors?

--- Ordinary (home water supply) tube connectors.

What about stand and base?

--- Rather free design.