Stirling Engine

Stirling Engines are unique machines that were first invented in the early 1800′s. The engines use a difference in temperature to move pistons locked into a flywheel. Why mention these engines when we talk about electricity? Because the engines are simple and only require a source of heat (or cold) to work. The concept is simple, yet the potential to easily produce clean electricity is even greater. See a simple sterling engine running in this video. Complete plans to make this engine with off the shelf parts are available in a link below.

The simplicity of the operation is what makes this engine such a neat tool to work with for generation of power. The best effective solar electric project that we could find on the web was a Sitrling Solar Dish. Why hasn’t this engine become more popular over the nearly 200 years that it has been in existence? The horsepower to weight ratio could not come close to the internal combustion engine, which placed this engine design off to the side as a alternative to car or boat engines. Most homes are connected to the grid so what good is a Stirling Engine? Being off the grid has not even been considered a possibility until just recently.

The Stirling Engine has made appearances as a commercial power plant in various applications beyond the solar dish from above. A Swedish submarine maker uses Stirling Engines in both submarines and ships it produces. Stirling Engines are sold to produce electricity as a byproduct of clean energy consumption. Stirling Engines have also been used as refrigeration systems since each engine has a hot and a cold side.

Stirling Engines may hold a great promise because of their simplicity and efficiency. These are certainly a power plant that remains for the most part, unexploited. References are below the video, and there is one reference that has complete plans for a Stirling Engine made of off the shelf parts that you can build yourself and experiment with. Good luck.