motivation - principle - concentrator - [stirling enginereceiver] - costs & markets

The Stirling engine is a piston engine. It consists of a sealed system filled with a working gas (Helium or Hydrogen) that is alternately heated and cooled and thereby converts the energy of the hot working gas into mechanical energy. An electric generator directly coupled to the crankshaft of the engine converts the mechanical energy into electricity (Fig.6).
The Stirling engine used is of the type V-161, based on the V-160 engine originally developed by USAB, Sweden, licensed by SBP and further developed together with SOLO Kleinmotoren GmbH, Sindelfingen where it is produced in a prototype series. The engine is a 90° V-type power unit with a swept volume of 160 cm3 and uses Helium as working media. It reaches with an average pressure of 150 bar and a gas temperature of 650° C an electrical output of 10 kW at 1500 rpm. The advantages of this engine are its simple robust construction combined with an advanced technology that leads in the world-wide Stirling development.

The receiver is the link between the concentrator and the Stirling engine. For that purpose we have developed a special tube receiver (Fig.7) which is fixed directly on the cylinder heads of the Stirling engine and through which the working medium of the Stirling engine flows. High-temperature-resistant tubes of 3mm outer diameter, the ends of which are welded into manifolds, built a nearly closed surface which absorbs the concentrated solar radiation and thus heats the working gas of the Stirling engine to approximately 650° C.

Fig.6: SBP/SOLO Stirling engine

Fig.7: Kinematic Stirling engine with tube receivers developed by SBP/SOLO