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

这个小型企业创新研究二期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量和电能。Cool Energy继续开发SolarFlowTM系统，这是一种太阳能热系统，通过真空管太阳能集热器捕获中温热能（100-300°C），将其结合加热和发电。创新的系统设计将高性能太阳能集热器与新颖的先进材料斯特林发动机和控制器集成在一起，使用单个太阳能系统为空间和水加热产生电力和热能。使用优化的预测控制系统来调节热量和电力的输送，从而使客户的经济价值最大化。在第一阶段项目成功的基础上，选择了先进的发动机部件并演示了发动机原型的大量电力生产，第二阶段的演示项目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。核心知识优点是斯特林发动机设计的进步（比太阳能应用更广泛），预测控制系统的实现，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。该项目支持的技术示范具有巨大潜力，有助于用更清洁、可持续的能源取代世界上日益枯竭的高污染化石燃料供应。传统能源的成本正在迅速上升，给包括美国在内的全球大部分人口造成了严重困难。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。在未来的几个世纪里，不断上升的碳排放将威胁到全球的生态系统和人口。降低可再生能源技术成本是该二期示范项目的主要推动力，因为只有降低清洁能源成本，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，在美国不同地区对SolarFlow系统的经济建模上付出了巨大的努力。此外，已经与潜在客户、分销合作伙伴、制造合作伙伴和投资者建立了伙伴关系，以建立一个强大的业务基础，以促进这项技术在成功演示后迅速渗透到商业渠道中。

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.