page_title: Applications of the Stirling engine
section_title: Solar power generation
hierarchical_section_title: Applications of the Stirling engine / Electrical power generation / Solar power generation
caption_attribution_description: English: Solar Stirling engine — solar power in the Mojave Desert, San Bernardino County, California. Credits Source: http://www.wapa.gov/es/pubs/esb/1998/98Aug/at_solargen.htm
context_page_description: Applications of the Stirling engine range from mechanical propulsion to heating and cooling to electrical generation systems. A Stirling engine is a heat engine operating by cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas, the "working fluid", at different temperature levels such that there is a net conversion of heat to mechanical work. The Stirling cycle heat engine can also be driven in reverse, using a mechanical energy input to drive heat transfer in a reversed direction.
  There are several design configurations for Stirling engines that can be built which can introduce difficult tradeoffs between frictional losses and refrigerant leakage. A free-piston variant of the Stirling engine can be built, which can be completely hermetically sealed, reducing friction losses and completely eliminating refrigerant leakage. For example, a Free Piston Stirling Cooler can convert an electrical energy input into a practical heat pump effect, used for high-efficiency portable refrigerators and freezers. Conversely, a free-piston electrical generator could be built, converting a heat flow into mechanical energy, and then into electricity.
context_section_description: Placed at the focus of a parabolic mirror, a Stirling engine can convert solar energy to electricity with an efficiency better than non-concentrated photovoltaic cells, and comparable to concentrated photovoltaics. On August 11, 2005, Southern California Edison announced an agreement with Stirling Energy Systems (SES) to purchase electricity created using over 30,000 Solar Powered Stirling Engines over a twenty-year period sufficient to generate 850 MW of electricity. These systems, on an 8,000 acre (19 km²) solar farm will use mirrors to direct and concentrate sunlight onto the engines which will in turn drive generators. "In January, 2010, four months after breaking ground, Stirling Energy partner company Tessara Solar completed the 1.5 MW Maricopa Solar power plant in Peoria, Arizona, just outside Phoenix. The power plant is composed of 60 SES SunCatchers." The SunCatcher is described as "a large, tracking, concentrating solar power (CSP) dish collector that generates 25 kilowatts (kW) of electricity in full sun. Each of the 38-foot-diameter collectors contains over 300 curved mirrors (heliostats) that focus sunlight onto a power conversion unit, which contains the Stirling engine. The dish uses dual-axis tracking to follow the sun precisely as it moves across the sky." There have been disputes over the project due to concerns of environmental impact on animals living on the site.  The Maricopa Solar Plant has been closed.
caption: Dish Stirling from SES
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