SBIR Phase II: Solar Thermal Stirling Engine Combined Heat and Power System

这个小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目推进了集成太阳能系统的开发，该系统为建筑物的居住者提供热能和电能。 在Cool Energy，SolarFlowTM系统的开发仍在继续，这是一种利用真空管太阳能集热器捕获的中温热能（100-300°C）进行联合供暖和发电的太阳能热系统。创新的系统设计将高性能太阳能集热器与新型先进材料的斯特林发动机和控制器集成在一起，使用单个太阳能系统产生电能和热能，用于空间和水加热。 使用优化预测控制系统来调节热量和电力的输送，使客户的经济价值最大化。 在成功选择先进发动机部件的第一阶段计划和发动机原型的显着发电演示的基础上，第二阶段演示计划包括下一代斯特林发动机原型与系统控制器和太阳能集热器的系统集成。 核心的知识优势是斯特林发动机设计的进步（比太阳能更广泛的应用），预测控制系统的实施，与太阳能集热器的集成进行现场测试，以及先进的发动机和系统设计工具。 该项目支持一项具有巨大潜力的技术示范，有助于以更清洁、可持续的能源替代世界上日益枯竭的高污染化石燃料。传统能源的成本正在迅速上升，给包括美国在内的世界上许多人带来了巨大的困难。 随着取暖燃料和电力成本的上升，穷人受到了不成比例的影响。 在未来几个世纪里，不断增加的碳排放威胁着全球的生态系统和人口。 降低可再生能源技术的成本是第二阶段示范项目的主要驱动力，因为只有通过降低清洁能源的成本，美国和世界才能实现国内能源安全，经济稳定和环境责任。 Cool Energy专注于市场成功，以实现广泛采用，并花费了大量精力对美国各地区的SolarFlow系统的经济性进行建模。 此外，本集团已与潜在客户、分销合作伙伴、制造合作伙伴及投资者建立伙伴关系，以建立稳固的业务基础，促进此项技术于成功示范后迅速渗透至商业渠道。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project advances the development of an integrated solar energy system which delivers heat and electrical energy to a building's occupants. At Cool Energy, development continues on the SolarFlowTM System, a solar thermal system for combined heating and electrical power generation from medium-temperature heat energy (100-300°C) captured with evacuated-tube solar thermal collectors. The innovative system design integrates high-performance solar collectors with a novel advanced-materials Stirling engine and controller to use a single solar system to produce electricity and thermal energy for space and water heating. Economic value to the customer is maximized using an optimizing predictive control system to regulate the delivery of heat and electricity. Building on the successful Phase I program for selection of advanced engine components and the demonstration of significant electricity production from the engine prototype, the Phase II demonstration program encompasses system integration of the next-generation Stirling engine prototype with the system controller and solar collectors. The core intellectual merits are the advances in the Stirling engine design (with broader applications than solar power), the implementation of the predictive control system, the integration with the solar collectors for field testing, and the advanced engine and system design tools. This project supports a technology demonstration that has enormous potential for helping to replace the world's depleting supply of highly polluting fossil fuels with cleaner, sustainable sources of energy. The costs of traditional energy are rising rapidly, causing significant hardship to much of the world's population, including in the US. Disproportionate effects are visited on the poor as the costs of heating fuels and electricity escalate. Rising carbon emissions threaten ecosystems and human populations worldwide over the coming centuries. Cost reduction of renewable energy technology is a main driver of this Phase II demonstration project, as only through lowered costs of clean energy will the US and the world be able to attain domestic energy security, economic stability, and environmental responsibility. Concentrating on market success to enable widespread adoption, Cool Energy has expended a great deal of effort on modeling the economics of the SolarFlow System in various regions of the US. Further, partnerships have been cultivated with potential customers, distribution partners, manufacturing partners, and investors to build a strong business foundation to foster rapid penetration of this technology into commercial channels upon its successful demonstration.