Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine • Hacker News Board

Re: Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

#61

Post by Volodesign » Tue, Nov 15, 2011, 3:27 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #50

meow wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on what your power requirement is. For a 200C difference, you should be able to get around 500W to 600W with a properly built stirling engine.

Sounds nice for all the people running off-grid up here who get so little precious sunshine in the winter. Can you provide more information on where I might be able to buy such a Sterling engine? Are there any companies actively making them?

Thats what we saw and why we started the project - just not enough solutions for real world requirements. The engine itself is somewhat simple, its the thermodynamics that are tricky - There are only a few moving parts, no spark plugs, no oil, no valves and works off of any kind of heat.

Re: Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

#62

Post by Volodesign » Tue, Nov 15, 2011, 3:30 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #58

MrEnigma wrote: post #2

Seems like a huge long shot. Even if you wanted to get one now, it's $250. I guess I've never seen this yet, but what happens when they can't' deliver you the working product? Do you get your money back?

Can you point me in a direction where I can buy one now for $250? It's something I'd love to experiment with in my off-grid cabin

I don't know of anyone providing a working engine for $250 at this time - you can find desktop models that run off of coffee cups but don't do real work. The industrial models cost in the tens of thousands. Give the Volo a shot - we hope to have it completed by spring.

Re: Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

#63

Post by Volodesign » Tue, Nov 15, 2011, 3:39 PM UTC

ck2 wrote: post #7

Yes gas is near $4 - what does that have to do with utility prices, since there aren't any gasoline powered plants in the USA since the 70s ? I would have to assume the way the utility company produces power is far more efficient than a town with thousands of mini-engines. Only stuff like solar cells work better in distribution. Not sure how this would work either - what fuel are you going to use to power it for 24 h…

The goal of the project is to spark infrastructure independent energy solutions - the stirling engine is flexible enough to run off of any type of heat (gas, wood, solar, etc). Stirlings can be very efficient, but, on top of that you're eliminating the transmission loss. You'd need both, some type of alternator, and some type of heat capacitor (fire box) to get the steady feed your talking about, but the first step is to complete the engine development.