The Suncone Solar Power Generator

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3. PROJECT GOAL

 The main goal of the project is to construct a working prototype of Suncone that will demonstrate the functionality and viability of the solar energy collector. The performance objective is to show that Suncone is more efficient and less expensive than solar trough collectors. For this project, only a single cone will be designed and built, similar to Figure 6.

That will be sufficient to demonstrate the performance of Suncone. With the acquisition of further funding, seven-cone units will be constructed. After that, Suncone units will be incorporated into solar thermal power plants to produce electricity for New Mexico residents at a lower price than present solar power plants.

4. Energy Problem Targeted

For large-scale solar power production, CSP is more economical than photovoltaics. Using Suncone will make the electric power cost comparable to fossil fuel power generation, and it will do so without dumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. By incorporating the Kinetic Pump, 24-hour per day power production will be made economical.

Advanced development of Suncone could fit into the PIER categories “Environmentally Preferred Advanced Generation” or “Renewable Generation.”

5. Primary Project Tasks and their associated Performance Objectives

HYTEC Inc. will undertake a comprehensive design/build approach to develop a working

prototype that can be used to further advance the design concept and prove technical and financial feasibility. The specific aspects of the work scope include:

• Performing initial design engineering analysis of the device to choose appropriate operating conditions, size, materials selection, etc. This will be a non-recurring engineering cost that will be required to translate the design concept into a producible, working prototype

• As we proceed with the analysis and design work, which is specifically targeted at engineering practice and low cost as opposed to performance modeling, we will

incorporate any ideas and approaches that will significantly enhance performance, improve reliability, and lower cost

• Based on this non-recurring engineering work, generate initial design concepts and drawings

• Select manufacturing vendors to fabricate piece parts and assemblies. It is anticipated that the low cost vendor will be used for the raw coated film materials for the cone, and that local fabricators will be used for machined/fabricated assemblies to facilitate the manufacturing effort in coordination with HYTEC engineers

• Assemble prototype unit at HYTEC

• Test prototype unit at HYTEC

• Evaluate and report test results

Tasks 1, 2, and 3 (of the Statement of Work) – Design Phase & Optical Analysis

HYTEC will take the initial design concepts that have been developed by Dr. Prueitt and will perform a full 3-D non-imaging optical analysis using a ray-tracing program. This will enable optimization of the design concept and will allow trade-off studies to be easily made. Additionally, the computer program has features that allow for the calculation of energy deposition in various portions of the structure. This information can be coupled to a fluid dynamics program to determine convection heat loss and to determine temperature excursions of plastic materials. The output of Tasks 1, 2, and 3 will be an optimized design with trades-off options (cost vs. efficiency).

Task 4 – Single-Cone Prototype Fabrication

Initially, a single cone will be fabricated to assess fabrication methods and to perform engineering studies. Lessons learned from that effort can later be incorporated into multi-cone modules.

Task 5 – Conduct Prototype Testing and Validation

The single-cone prototype will be tested in the field with varying weather conditions. Results will be recorded from instrumentation within the unit. The goal is to achieve performance within 5% of the computer simulations. This task will involve instrumentation of the prototype unit (for example, thermocouples to measure surface temperatures and to measure water inlet/outlet temperatures to validate overall energy conversion efficiency).

Task 6 – Perform Manufacturing Cost Analysis

Additional engineering work will be essential in developing a sufficient understanding of the economics of scale-up and the cost-per-watt regarding the size or number of collector modules. The engineering assessment will also be considered for any modifications to the cost models used for mass production cost estimation purposes.

Task 7 – Durability Tests of the Suncone Prototype

While the evaluation of experimental data and the manufacturing cost analysis is proceeding, durability tests of the prototype will continue, and the results will be recorded. Actually, one month is not sufficient time for a

thorough durability test, but that is all the time available during the term of the grant. Durability tests will continue after the grant period.

The above tasks will require six months of the eight-month project. The final two months will be reserved for writing of Final Report Draft and Final Report. See Schedule/Milestone Chart, Form C.

Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | References