Let there be light.

I am starting to realize that with the loooonger than expected delay to get materials, my semester project is most likely going to span two semesters. That being said we got a solar concentrator up and running.  Before assembling our parabolic concentrator, we wanted to practice applying the mylar sheeting to something.  A Direct TV dish (DeathRay v.1) was used for a proof of concept.  I am really glad that we practiced on something small.  We practically did everything wrong the first time, which significantly decreased the efficiency of the mylar's refectivity. 

Even with the decreased efficiency, our concentrator was able to boil water and set a variety of things on fire.   Death Ray v.2 was assembled early this week.  More preparation and care was taken when applying the mylar to the satellite dish, and the concentrator's efficiency greatly increased.  Water boiled faster and harder, and lit objects on fire faster.  I say we are off to a good start.

Because slow motion makes everything better, here is a slow motion video of our concentrator starting to light a piece of wood on fire.  This was filmed using Death Ray v.1, so the wood never actually catches on fire, but it is still pretty cool.

Finally!

Construction has begun!  This week a lot of progress has been made.  the frame of our parabolic concentrator has been built, and we started making the skeleton of our parabolic trough.  It feels so good that after weeks of purchase order mishaps, everything starts coming together so quickly.  Friday we will take a trip to the metal shop and start fabricating some of the larger pieces of steel that we will need for our concentrator, and maybe we can make a wood template for the parabola to ensure accuracy along the entire trough.  By next week we should be generating steam and (hopefully) powering a steam engine with previously mentioned steam!

Below are a few pictures taken in my friends garage of our activities this week.

Purchase Orders Submitted

Another set of purchase orders have been submitted for our concentrator, and are waiting approval and funding from our instructor.  Tomorrow our team meets again, and I am hoping there with be a big pile of parts for us, or a nice stack of cash, so we can go purchase what is necessary.  Once the parts are in hand this project is going to go pretty smoothly.  The logistics of ordering through the school and a grant funded program is proving to move slower than I would like, but there is nothing that I can do about that.  I feel helpless in this matter, and hopefully come December, I will have a lot of interesting data to present to all of you.

One day this will be mine...

Stay tuned...

We have now entered the first week of October and the project encountered a little delay.  All of the parts we ordered were either damaged in shipping or the quality was not what the manufacturer promised.  We made a collective decision to start from scratch and not rely on others for supplies.  This is a realization that I wish happened earlier, but as one of my instructors told me, if you do fail, fail fast.  We hope to make a quick recovery of this and still plan on having a functioning parabolic concentrator by the end of the semester.  I was really hoping that I was going to have pictures to show off but it doesn't look like that will be happening this week.

Today (Friday) we made a trip to my new favorite store in town.  It is called Industrial Metal Supply.  Anything metal they have, or will fabricate for you.  We have parts sourced for the concentrator and construction can finally begin.

So much metal, so little time.

The heat is on.

This semester I am taking my most academically challenging course load, and I am really starting to feel the pressure this week.  None of the work is incredibly difficult, but it is all incredibly time consuming.  Sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day.  My first week of exams went incredibly well, so I have a little relief for a week or two.  In regard to my project.  This is when it all begins!!!  After weeks of calculations, approximations, and order forms....OUR PARTS HAVE STARTED TO ARRIVE!!!  This weekend will be full of building our steam engine, with countless trips to the hardware store,  Assembly shouldn't take more than a week or so, and then after the engine is working, we can spend the remainder of the semester, (with the guidance of our mentors) building a generator that will power a refrigerator and some light bulbs.