The Basics of Solar Steam Power

Most people know that solar power can be used to generate heat or electricity. However, when combined with steam-engine technology, solar steam power from the sun can be used to create clean mechanical energy as well.

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Old-world steam engines used coal and wood as a fuel source but produced lots of soot, smoke and carbon dioxide. The fuel would boil water to create high-pressure steam which would then be used by a steam engine to rotate a piston.

The piston would be connected to a shaft that would turn mechanical arms or operate pumps in a factory or mine. Updating this design to use solar energy may be a little less efficient, but it is also much more environmentally-friendly.

Since the sun's energy is abundant, free and non-polluting, it makes sense to use solar energy to drive our machines. However, since sunlight is spread out over a large surface area, it has to be first concentrated to produce enough heat to change water into steam.

Solar steam power consists of the following components:

Solar Collector - A collector such as a lens or a mirror concentrates sunlight to a central point to create a 'hot-spot'.
Heat Transfer Point - The concentrated sunlight is focused on a metal transfer case where water is heated into steam. This equipment, and all connecting tubes, must be able to withstand high temperature and high-pressure.
Steam Engine - This pressure-sensitive chamber uses high-pressure steam and normal atmospheric pressure to move a piston. The piston is connected to a shaft which can be used to turn mechanical equipment.

Even though the combined technology looks promising, it does have its drawbacks. For instance:

Steam engines are not as efficient internal combustion engines. It takes larger steam engines (or a higher number of them) to do the same amount of work as an internal combustion engine.
Steam engines require more maintenance than other types of engines.
Using the sun as the power source means that steam power will only be available during daylight hours when the sun is shining. A simple interruption, such as a cloud going overhead, will stop the engine.
To provide enough heat to create steam, sunlight needs to be concentrated by a lens or reflected by mirrors to a central location. Large lenses or parabolic mirrors are expensive. They also have to be constantly realigned to follow the sun.

Solar steam power is a combination of old-world technology with new world's need to use a non-polluting energy source. Even though it is not as efficient or convenient as modern engines, it may find some practical use in non-critical applications.