Denisse Aranda

Kevin LaMott

Stephen Wood

Advisor:
Dr. Tao
 Problem Statement
 Trade Studies and Design Alternatives
 Project Formulation
 Conceptual Design
 Prototype Specification
 Timeline and Division of Responsibilities
 The political, economical, environmental concerns over traditional fossil fuel
power generation have led to an overwhelming amount of innovation and research
into cleaner renewable sources.

Of the existing sources of renewable energy, the most promising is the sun. It is the
most abundant source of energy on the planet and it is a phenomenal source of light
and heat. Scientific American magazine states, “The energy in sunlight striking
the Earth for 40 minutes is the equivalent to global energy consumption for
one year.”
 Cost Ingenuity Ability Reliability Total
Parabolic Mirrors 3 2 5 5 15
Fresnel Plastic lens 5 5 4 5 19

Parabolic Mirrors Fresnel Lens

The scale is based on a scale on 1 – 5, where 5 is the most desirable based on the
metric that are required for this project.
 Cost Ingenuity Ability Reliability Total
Photovoltaic 1 1 4 5 11
Brayton Cycle 3 3 5 4 15
Stirling Engine 4 5 5 4 18

Photovoltaics Brayton Cycle Stirling Engine

The scale is based on a scale on 1 – 5, where 5 is the most desirable based on the
metric that are required for this project.
 Cost Ingenuity Ability Reliability Total
Alpha Stirling 3 4 3 3 13
Beta Stirling 4 4 4 5 17
Gamma Stirling 4 4 5 5 18

Alpha Beta Gamma

The scale is based on a scale on 1 – 5, where 5 is the most desirable based on the
metric that are required for this project.
 A Stirling Engine of Gamma configuration should generate up to 25
kW during peak performance
 Fresnel lens should concentrate approximately 100 kW on solar
energy on the hot end of the engine
 Efficient conversion between mechanical energy to electrical energy
 Fresnel lens should concentrate over 1kWh
 Hot End Temperature 250˚F
 Cold End Temperature 100˚F
 Efficiencies 25 – 35 %
 A conceptual design and prototype of a Stirling
engine of Gamma configuration that uses a
Fresnel lens for a solar collector will generate 25
kW of power for use in solar plant or to provide
power for remote areas and disaster relief.