Solar Fire Project

2% Sky Cover!

Ray Menke — 2010-08-09T06:47:00Z

A high pressure weather system has been centered over Texas. The National Weather System's graphical map indicated 2% Sky Cover. Not a cloud in the sky! The Helios baked bread, zucchini loaves, squash, potatoes, beans, rice, cakes, including an angel food cake, and several chickens. The cracked microwave turntable 1/4" thick glass cracked even more, and fell to the ground. We replaced it with some 4" wide strips of optically clear glass that had been recycled from junk Xerox copy (...) - Texas 2010

450 F, Biscoti, Fuelwood, and More

Ray Menke — 2010-06-13T16:09:01Z

My first idea for the glass window on the front of the oven was to use a recycled microwave oven turntable held in the center of the stainless steel mixing bowl with a clip so it would be free to expand and contract. An online seller of replacement turntables mentioned ceramic glass and regular glass, but I imagine this one is regular glass. It is not clear, and has bubbles in it, and probably reflects lots of energy, but I wanted to try it. (I am in the process of making a frame to hold (...) - Texas 2010

Smoking hot in the SUN!

Ray Menke — 2010-06-03T08:28:00Z

We pulled the Helios out into the bright sun so the mirrors could be pointed and adjusted. Finally, all the spiders are welded, sand blasted, painted, glued, and mounted on the array. The pulleys and cables are hooked up, and the three double rows of mirrors can be adjusted up and down on the front side of the oven. Here is a photo taken shortly after pulling it out of the (...) - Texas 2010

Design and other photos Sterling Engines

Eerik Wissenz — 2010-05-29T22:39:04Z

- Rider-Ericsson Sterling Engine

Sterling Engine Demonstration and Parts

Eerik Wissenz — 2010-05-29T21:41:43Z

Completed Engine - Rider-Ericsson Sterling Engine

Solar Charcoal

Eerik Wissenz — 2010-05-26T20:12:00Z

Over half the people on earth (3 billion people) rely on fire wood directly for essentially all their daily energy needs such as cooking and heating. Though burning wood is sustainable in small quantities within a sustainable relationship with the ecosystem, burning in too much quantity degrades the land. Moreover, with the increase in the price of fossil fuel, more and more people will turn to fire wood for energy, causing further pressure on our trees and ecosystems precisely when we need (...) - Essays and ideas

Batant Guide Description

Eerik Wissenz — 2010-05-04T19:22:36Z

This is a word description describing the construction steps of the Batant (SFT Training Model). When refined and complete (hopefully with help from your feedback, leave a comment or email eerik(at)solarfire.org directly) I will make a new pdf will be made containing the descriptions. - Batant

Control wheels for adjusting rows of mirrors

Ray Menke — 2010-04-09T08:03:31Z

Here is what I came up with for the control wheels for adjusting the mirrors. - Texas 2010

Wheels, chicken, water heating and mesquite chunks

Ray Menke — 2010-04-06T11:25:46Z

March 28, 2010 The wheels and track have just been welded. I found two iron cots (sleeping frames) that were being used for the last 25 years to keep wild dogs and coyotes from entering our chicken pen. These cots were constructed with rivets which I ground out with a hand grinder, and ended up with four rusty angle iron pieces to use for the "U" channels. The wheels came from a scope cart (Not a Tektronix cart!) constructed for the Gov't under contract about 50 years ago. Very heavy (...) - Texas 2010

Dishwasher oven

Ray Menke — 2010-04-06T11:18:04Z

Saturday, March 13, 2010. Another beautiful low humidity 75 degree Winter day! It was even warm enough to get some nice warm shower water from our Solar Water Heater. Between sessions of helping to prepare the garden, and sifting compost, I managed to sandblast and paint 4 more spiders, as well as the 54 brackets that hold the spiders to the 6 ten foot long "bars". The plan was to work on the pulleys, but it was too good of a day for painting to pass it up. This time I used the paint (...) - Texas 2010