Stirling Energy Systems (SES) and Tessera Solar have unveiled SunCatcher solar power systems to select government officials, customer utilities and state leadership at the SES model plant at Sandia national laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The company said that the modular concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) SunCatcher system uses precision mirrors attached to a parabolic dish to concentrate the sun’s energy onto a stirling engine. Each dish has capacity of up to 25,000W and has been certified by Sandia national laboratories having highest sun-to-grid energy conversion.
In addition, the modifications are built on proven designs, optimizing the SunCatcher for manufacturing, reduced operations and maintenance costs, and ease of maintenance.
The SunCatcher dish structure incorporates a weight reduction of nearly 5,000 pounds in its steel structure by leveraging a combination of SES’s structural analysis and Sandia’s optical analysis capabilities. The reflective mirror facets are produced using automotive techniques enabling production. The engines represent a 60% reduction in parts count and improvement in serviceability.
Steve Cowman, CEO of Stirling Energy Systems, said: “The new production design of the SunCatcher represents more than a decade of innovative engineering and validation testing making it ready for commercialization.
Stirling Energy, Tessera Unveil SunCatcher Solar Power System – Energy Business Review.
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