ALTERNATIVE ENERGY FORUM - etc.

your brain must hurt some days... hahaha

I watched RMS videos 1720 & 1721where he makes a solar collector from a pencil mark thermocouple.
I had been thinking about that on and off for several years and thought that it might be a way to make a solar collector that doesn't wear out like the current technology.
The thing I came across from reading a little is that the one junction has to be a different temperature for it to work well. So how to do that in a solar collector where everything is exposed to the suns rays?
Everything would have to be in a box with a window in it, the box should probably not be allowed to collect heat so as to keep the temperature differentials, and the cold junction would have to be shielded and heatsunk for the same reasons.
The drawing is what I came up with using the same pencil leads he did . Anybody have more ideas for improvement?

So does this advancement mark the end of the large Sharp? I’m wondering if this set up might be adapted for the Sharp?

Come to think of it, I could probably just mount it to one of the boards in its current tower.  Just a little higher up so it can catch more wind, but not so high it would blow over.

It is definitely the winner in energy production.  The energy meter is up to 234 Whrs now.  It turns in light winds and can make power more frequently than the Sharp.  But that could be due to the type of generator too.  The Bent Wing made its energy with a single phase generator.  I haven't had much luck with three phase generators.  They seem to require a lot of speed to get up to charging voltage, and once there they don't allow the turbine to speed up much beyond that.  You can wind them for low cut-in speed, but the turbine will be in a stalled state at higher wind speeds.  If you're set up to take advantage of good wind speeds, you don't see it produce very often.  I was hoping electronics could fix that, but now I'm not sure if it is worth the effort because the electronics add a layer of complexity, reaction time, and lost efficiency.

This is a thought for how to use the frameless bldc motor.  I think it needs 6010 size motor to get the cable through the bearing.  The center shaft is 3/4" diameter so it doesn't need support at the top with a bearing (not shown) and a plate on the bottom to attach to the flange on the larger pole where the Sharp VAWT is now.  I was thinking of sliding the generator over the shaft and fixing it in place with a cotter pin to keep it from spinning.  I have to reposition the tabs so they don't hit the flanges.  I hope to 3D print the parts to see how they go together.