NEW SUN POWER PLANT.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 366, 3 June 1911, Page 2

NEW SUN POWER PLANT.

JUST LIKE A FORCING FRAME. The problem of utilising the sun's heat as a source of power is one which has allured and baffled many, inventors. The efforts have usually been in the direction of collecting and concentrating: the heat by means of reflecting mirrors ; and the results have proved too heavy in first cost and in maintenance to be of commercial use.

This new method makes no attempt to concentrate the rays of heat ; it acts on the principle of the forcing frame of the gardener ; absorbing the direct rays of the sun and minimising the loss from radiation. The apparatus consists of a shallow flat box, covered wiih two layers of window glass separated by a space of about one inch. Coils of piping, painted black, are laid in this box and through them water or some other fluid runs.

The light-rays of the sun pass through the glass without, interference, and are converted to heat, which, owing to the jacketing of the double glass and air space, escapes by radiation or convection very largely, and generates a heat which converts the water in the pipes into steam. The steam is used in the engine, which is of the ordinary steam-driven type,, and the exhaust is condensed and returned, forming an endless cycle. An experimental "hot box" or generator with a glass area of 1,080 square feet generated during the summer months a working load of 3J horse-power. Ether was used in the boiler and a pressure of 90 pounds was shown. With water the highest pressure obtained was 15 pounds ; but it is expected that water will prove satisfactory in tropical countries. The cost of installation was about €3OO, and the upkeep is very moderate. Its maintenance is a fraction of that of a steam boiler. The fuel costs nothing and wages very little.