Why this subject? Well, the Nexus has many a brilliant minds from all sorts of professions, so I thought I would ask some piece of advice on some mechanical aspects.
The story goes as follows:
I was talking to a guy the other day, he is trying to make some developings
on the solar energy capture technology.
This guy was stating that photovoltaics are not that good, and that they capture maximum
20% of the sun's potential energy. Plus they need some sort of maintenance that could
make them not very efficient for developing countries.
But anyway, he was saying that he's working on a solar parabolic disk. This is mega
powerful in capturing above 90% of the sun's energy. The disk can be 1-2 meters in
diameter, and it focuses all the harvested rays on a single point which it heats up
easily above 350 C). This energy can be utilised in millions of different ways (e.g.
converting to electrical). Actually he was talking about distilling sea water to pure
water and the generated steam can be coupled to an electicity generator. So, you get pure
water PLUS stored electricity from the steam.
There is one big problem though:
There needs to be a good tracking device that will be able to move the solar parabolic
dish along the sun's orbit. The disk needs to be always positioned with respect to the sun so that it can effectively focus the rays to the collector. A static disk will get energy only 1-2 hours per sunny day, this is not very efficient. So, this guy is trying to develop some easy (i.e. not involving expensive and complicated computer-manipulated motor driven incidence-tracking device) automatic tracking system for the plate, so sun can be harvested during the whole daylight.
Now, as a biologist I proposed him that plants have excellent and amazing sun tracking mechanisms; Especially the sunflower, which is the king of heliotropism.
Now comes the mechanical problems:
1) Could one couple the solar disk to a plant using a fairly easy and simple to maintain system?
2) Would that be easy to imitate the system that plants harness for heliotropism?
Note that not much are known about the mechanics of heliotropisms in plant. It seems however that water accumulates on the shady side of the stem, and as the pressure builds up, it forces the head in a steady arc toward the light. This force is enough to move a large surface in a 180-degree arc.
Any suggestions are highly appreciated.
The story goes as follows:
I was talking to a guy the other day, he is trying to make some developings
on the solar energy capture technology.
This guy was stating that photovoltaics are not that good, and that they capture maximum
20% of the sun's potential energy. Plus they need some sort of maintenance that could
make them not very efficient for developing countries.
But anyway, he was saying that he's working on a solar parabolic disk. This is mega
powerful in capturing above 90% of the sun's energy. The disk can be 1-2 meters in
diameter, and it focuses all the harvested rays on a single point which it heats up
easily above 350 C). This energy can be utilised in millions of different ways (e.g.
converting to electrical). Actually he was talking about distilling sea water to pure
water and the generated steam can be coupled to an electicity generator. So, you get pure
water PLUS stored electricity from the steam.
There is one big problem though:
There needs to be a good tracking device that will be able to move the solar parabolic
dish along the sun's orbit. The disk needs to be always positioned with respect to the sun so that it can effectively focus the rays to the collector. A static disk will get energy only 1-2 hours per sunny day, this is not very efficient. So, this guy is trying to develop some easy (i.e. not involving expensive and complicated computer-manipulated motor driven incidence-tracking device) automatic tracking system for the plate, so sun can be harvested during the whole daylight.
Now, as a biologist I proposed him that plants have excellent and amazing sun tracking mechanisms; Especially the sunflower, which is the king of heliotropism.
Now comes the mechanical problems:
1) Could one couple the solar disk to a plant using a fairly easy and simple to maintain system?
2) Would that be easy to imitate the system that plants harness for heliotropism?
Note that not much are known about the mechanics of heliotropisms in plant. It seems however that water accumulates on the shady side of the stem, and as the pressure builds up, it forces the head in a steady arc toward the light. This force is enough to move a large surface in a 180-degree arc.
Any suggestions are highly appreciated.
