Solar powered stove using 100% recycled materials

Step 6 Testing the temperature

These pictures show a temperature of 400 degrees. This is adequate for my uses. In an earlier experiment I had CD's covering every available square inch of the surface of the dish. It produced over 800 degrees. More that I needed for cooking. Do not try to retrieve anything from the focal area without a leather glove on. If that didn't come to mind right away then you maybe shouldn't try this.

Comments

[melheath]

Has anyone tried using the CDs in a box-type cooker? I'm wondering how the reflectivity compares with tin foil for that purpose. I have a LOT of old CDs, great idea to use them! (My only reservation with the dish for cooking is that I have cats that might try to check out an open stationary dish system, and i wonder about wildlife also - birds, squirrels.)also other Q - has anyone tried using the dish concept for water heating? I'm trying to imagine a circulating system to storage in the water heater tank, or something. ?? Thanks for the ingenuity!

[EduGreat]

WOW! this is great I have a smaller (36inch?) fiberglass dish and have been trying to think of low/no cost reflectors, hadn't thought of the CDs - What do you cook in the basket? If the CDs don't produce enough heat for my smaller dish I may have to go with buying a pack of stick on mirrors from Lakeshore (lakeshorelearning.com item #FF817 $10.95 for 20 8.5x11 sheets) Thanks again

[Treknology]

If the dish you're using is solid rather than mesh, why not just use "chrome" paint?

[sarveshk]

Nice Idea! but the author is trying to use only Recycled materials, and by opinion CD is the perfect, recycled, waste material.

[Grey_Wolfe]

I have a left over cable satellite dish from my house's previous owners. It's smaller, maybe 20", but I think I could make a fairly functional version using foil and spray on adhesive so it's smooth.

I'll let you know the results when I try it out.

Peace,
-Grey

[desertdog]

Thought about an automatic tracking system.  For what I use it for, cooking, and the short periods of time it is in use, I can move it manually. 


Regarding the reflectivity/usefulness of CD's, I had thought about it for a while and then a friend of mine who works at LANL did some computations and said it would work.  So off I went.  

I had a small dish from another company that was elliptical and I thought about the same thing you are talking about.  Reflective foil or small mirrors.  Wound up giving the dish to a High School teacher for his class to use. 

Have 3.4 Kw solar array on the house.  Put it up in December around the solstice.  Power equivalent of  about 10-15 homes around here every day.  It's great to get paid and not have an electric bill and know you are helping to slow the plans for another power plant.  Pay-off in about 7-10 years.

Thanx for your interest and comments.

Pete

[flippyot]

Is there any way to add a a steam-like combustible engine to generate power??

[Grey_Wolfe]

One could feasibly use such a parabolic array to heat one chamber of a Sterling engine and also produce electricity.

[CLARKCOMPANERO]

Yes ctually their is. you get a sarsaparilla glass bottle and put water in it, then you have a hose that leads into a steam engine.  it produces adequate steam.  if you ever watched mythbusters you could make one out of an old water heater. see how much energy is needed to produce steam and see hoe much energy comes out

[desertdog]

I suppose that you could.  I would think you would need to monitor position relative to the sun for a longer time that just cooking for a short period of time.

Give it a try and let me know how it works.

[Grey_Wolfe]

If using for power, one could set up an automatic tracking system such as used by many solar cell systems. Just a though though.

At an 800 degree possible output, I would think it's reasonable that you could get more energy from this than a solar panel of the same size. I haven't done the figures though.