
Solar Fire Breakthrough - ph0rque
http://openfarmtech.org/weblog/2011/05/solar-fire/
======
mrb
Solar thermal power has always looked much cheaper to me, compared to
photovolcaics.

Even Google recognizes its potential. They invested in a solar thermal power
company a few months ago: [http://venturebeat.com/2008/05/13/brightsource-
snags-115m-fo...](http://venturebeat.com/2008/05/13/brightsource-
snags-115m-for-solar-thermal-project/)

------
FrojoS
I wasn't aware of this huge project [1]. This one seems to be only a smal part
of it [2]. This really looks awesome and game changing! I'm very excited to
see if I can contribute.

[1] <http://openfarmtech.org/wiki/Main_Page> [2]
[http://openfarmtech.org/weblog/2011/03/open-source-micro-
fac...](http://openfarmtech.org/weblog/2011/03/open-source-micro-factory/)

~~~
moonsu
They have a TED Talk which is exciting to watch as well

<http://www.ted.com/talks/marcin_jakubowski.html>

~~~
evangineer
I was fortunate enough to meet Marcin a number of years ago at a conference in
Vienna. He was even then working on developing his Open Source Ecology ideas &
hardware.

------
pieter
This is interesting, and as for comparison, the construction cost of this is
just a bit higher than for nuclear ($1/watt at 25% capacity for this vs
$5billion / ~1.2GW at 95% capacity for nuclear), though that doesn't include
labor for the solar.

As for comparing operating cost, I have no idea. Obviously this is meant for
poorer countries, but I can't imagine how much work would be involved in
turning 5billion square foot of mirrors. The nice thing about this is of
course the scale; you can just have one guy maintaining a small installation.

------
adrianwaj
<http://www.zenithsolar.com/> looks more advanced - pv and thermal.

What are the efficiency of mirrors these days? I'm sure better mirrors equals
more power.

Concentrated solar power (solar thermal) also uses mirrors but in closer range
to the water:

[http://www.energy.siemens.com/hq/en/power-
generation/renewab...](http://www.energy.siemens.com/hq/en/power-
generation/renewables/solar-power/concentrated-solar-power.htm)
[http://www.israel21c.org/environment/siemens-buys-israels-
so...](http://www.israel21c.org/environment/siemens-buys-israels-solel-solar-
for-418-million)

~~~
moonsu
Zenith Solar is certainly more advanced. Thanks for pointing it out.

The difference between the two projects though is open source vs proprietary.
Zenith looks very impressive but Solar Fire is meant to put solar power
cheaply and easily into anyone's hands. They are both worth following IMO

~~~
adrianwaj
Yes I agree, I really like the way Solar Fire's mirrors can be bent.

~~~
moonsu
Have any idea how much a ZenithSolar unit costs? Apparently they've given an
Israeli community of 1100 people a surplus of electricity with only 16 units.

~~~
leot
Their website says nothing, but they link ([http://green-energy-
reviews.com/zenith-turns-an-israeli-kibb...](http://green-energy-
reviews.com/zenith-turns-an-israeli-kibbutz-solar/)) to a video that shows a
presentation with a slide of their technology with the text:

5 kWh PV + Thermal -- 30,000 Euros

... and they claim their products will last 20 years.

~~~
moonsu
There will certainly be maintenance costs during that 20 years though.

I do like the idea that as PV efficiencies improve you only have to swap out
one cell per dish

------
loup-vaillant
What impresses me most is how accessible this is. Even a child could operate
this solar panel. I also feel you don't need many specialized skills to build
it from scratch once you have the schematics.

We need more ideas like this. [edit]: FrojoS' links show they do have more
ideas like this.

------
wazoox
It's really promising. I'm a bit surprised they're apparently considering a
piston steam engine over a turbine; after all turbines superceded most other
steam engines in boats, power plants, etc?

~~~
easp
I'd imagine that machining a piston engine is simpler and moraccessable than
machining an efficient turbine.

