ABSTRACT
This chapter details a Stirling engine solar power system. A solar system of this type uses a parabolic mirror, which tracks the sun to reflect sunlight on a Stirling engine. The engine drives an electric generator, and heat rejected by the engine is delivered to the atmosphere. Carnot engine was proposed by Nicholas Leonard Sadi Carnot in his technical paper Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat. Like an automobile gasoline engine, the Carnot engine has cylinders and pistons. However, the gas in the cylinder of a Carnot engine is permanently captured within the cylinder. There are no inlet or outlet valves in a Carnot engine. A Carnot engine has the maximum efficiency possible for a heat engine operating between two constant temperature heat sources. A Stirling engine is similar to a Carnot. It is an external combustion engine but unlike the Carnot engine the Stirling engine employs heat regeneration within the engine’s cylinder.
