Thread: Need Help with a Solar Power Project

Hi, I am a student at Lehigh University. In one of my project courses, I am placed in a team with students of various majors to develop a solar collector (not solar panel, but a solar dish) for residential use. Pretty much the theory is to harvest the power of the sun and integrate that with our current power system. The product is targeted to be affordable, easy to maintain, and efficient.

I got a survey that if you guys could answer, that will contribute greatly to our project. Thanks!

You should probably number your questions for reference.

What are you going to do with the concentrated sunlight-- fry a PV panel? Thermal to turbine to electrical? Just thermal for heating?

My issues with dishes is they need to be points, which is mechanical and prone to breakdown (much like home windpower--which is largely unreliable and maintenance intensive), and that can't use diffuse sunlight (aka light overcast clouds) to generate power.