PV Gap

Paula Said:

Has anyone come up with a home power system using solar "trough" technology?

We Answered:

Hey Scott, the short answer is no, I'll explain why. Solar Trough arrays have been around for quite a long time. The ones being built today are used to make steam to run a turbine, which spins a generator to make electricity. Some of the larger fields actually heat oil to 600 degrees C, which then runs through a heat exchanger to boil water. This allows the solar trough to collect heat from a larger area using a smaller collector and less moving fluid, so in a large field, there is greater efficiency because you are moving a fraction of the medium around than if you used water directly. It is also easier to maintain the steam temperature and pressure, because the oil can vary in hundreds of degrees and still be used to boil water, yet be shut off at any time with the twist of a valve.

What you should get from all of this is that the level of complication, and possible hazards and malfunctions in doing this are pretty far reaching, so it isn't something the average homeowner is going to be able to install, operate and trouble shoot effectively. It's the same reason we have steam powered ships, but not steam powered cabin cruisers, the technology works better and is safer in a large application with a professional operating it. If you want a more indepth answer to your question, try posting it to Home Power Magazine's crew, they are the guru's on home power systems, I will include a link below.

We've been powering our home with solar and wind, and heating the home and water with solar and wood for years now, and I can tell you we've made plenty of mistakes. There was a company that was selling small steam turbines for home use out of Florida some time ago, they were designed to be connected to a wood fired boiler, so while you were heating the home and water, you could produce electricity at the same time. I don't recall their name, and I've not seen anything on them in quite a while, but you might try googling it. As far as the trough, it's a promising technology, making enough power for all of Western Europe with just a fraction of the space in the Sahara Desert, we'll see if they are successful in the next few years. Take care, Rudydoo