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Solar Furnace
Everything You Need to Know About
Today technology has made solar furnace as one of three leading options for home furnaces that we can think of. The other two are Solar panel and Geothermal Heating Systems. This page will discuss what is it and why we call it a leading candidates for home furnaces and as one reliable solar heating device in the production of high temperatures.
A solar-furnace is a structure used to harness the rays of the sun in order to produce high temperatures, usually for industry.
How does it works?
Solar-furnace works basically with sun rays focused on its special reflector.
The reflector made by curved mirror or a number of curb mirrors placed in such a way and it become parabolic characteristic reflector, where sun rays like beam of light heavily concentrated at focal point of the reflector where maximum heat created equivalent to 3000 degree. This heat can be used to melt metal, converted hydrogen fuel and generate electricity etc.
The principle of operation is quite simple. Take two mirrors, point them at a focus, and the intensity of sunlight in that focus will increase by around threefold. This is because, instead of only getting light from the sun, the focus gets light from the sun and two mirrors. Make that ten mirrors, and you start to get levels of heat that are useful for applications like cooking food.
Diagram credited to http://ec.europa.eu
The solar-furnace comes under passive solar science of the industrial arts; sometimes require a small amount of conventional power to operate them. It is created to channel the sunlight to one place and then storing it for future use. Storing the trapped heat or aligning the mirrors may require some amount of electricity.
What are the difference between solar furnace with solar collector?
A solar-furnace is any device that creates heat by concentrating solar radiation through the use of reflectors, while Solar Collector is such device can extracts Sun’s energy directly into a more usable or storage. It does not have reflector.
What are solar furnace uses?
A small solar-furnace may be used to cook food without consuming firewood, whereas a larger one can generate electricity by heating a gas, producing hydrogen fuel and melting steel or rocks.
Do we really need solar furnace for the home use?
A solar-furnace is the main catcher of solar energy to produce electricity. The next step is the connection it with a best heat exchanger. Solar furnace application on the residential usually bulky and ugly to foster a market for solar thermal production. The solar collector has a lower profile and a form that conforms more to a roof.
Although solar-furnace still face a big problem with the high manufacturing cost of parabolic mirrors but there still a promising with the improving conversion of heat to electricity through steam turbines. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has estimated that solar-furnaces might produce electricity for 5.47 cents per kWh by 2020.
A solar-furnace is the main catcher of solar energy to produce electricity. The next step is the connection it with a best heat exchanger. Solar furnace application on the residential usually bulky and ugly to foster a market for solar thermal production. The solar collector has a lower profile and a form that conforms more to a roof.
