Have decided to reconsider the idea of using curved mirrors- this leaves the question: how to reflect the light to a convenient place? Let's study the following pic:
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| Infinia Prototype CSP dish, page 11 pdf doc |
The idea here is to put a mirror in place of the Stirling Engine. The question that arises is this: can the mirror survive the concentrated solar light and not melt? If that question can't be answered affirmatively, then we are sunk with this idea. If it can, that means the light can be redirected to where we want it. Happy days.
I would prefer to reflect the light along the support structure. It would move vertically like the light does in a periscope in a submarine.
Update:
The answer to the question was not directly answerable in the web, but I did ask the following question
Can a laser ever be powerful enough to burn a hole in a reflecting mirror?
with the answer being that if the laser is powerful enough, then yes. I am going to guess that concentrated solar will not be as intense as a laser, but that may be wrong.
Update:
The last update just above linked to the possibility of generating a laser directly from concentrated solar light. If this is feasible, the it would be an exciting prospect for this application, in my opinion. For if you could convert concentrated solar into a laser, then you could put the laser where you want it. Then it would become a trivial exercise to make the heat exchanger work like it is envisioned here. Moreover, it may be possible to get higher ISP's as well. Higher than 850.
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