DIY solar stove, DIY solar battery. Master Class

A solar oven is a self-contained oven that operates without the use of combustible fuel or electricity, but only by solar energy, which is an environmentally friendly, free, high-capacity renewable natural resource.

Description:

A solar oven is a self-contained oven that operates without the use of fuel. fuel and electricity, but only due to solar energy, which is an environmentally friendly, free, high-capacity renewable natural resource.

For maximum efficiency solar bake should be used in areas with high light levels, most days of clear weather and warm temperatures environment. The lower the illumination and the colder the ambient temperature, the lower the efficiency of the furnace.

General operating principle of solar ovens:

The design of the solar oven can be any, but the principle of their operation is the same.

Direct and reflected sun rays from the mirror surface are directed and concentrated, raising the temperature in a specific area in which cooking utensils, painted dark for better heating, are placed.

Advantages:

– autonomy. The solar oven does not depend on connection to the power supply network, storage and fuel, since it only uses thermal energy from the sun,

– environmental friendliness. The operation of the stove does not harm the environment,

– mobility. The ability to move the stove to the desired location without much effort,

– fire safety. The use of flammable fuel and electricity is excluded.

Application:

Solar oven is used for:

– heating water;

- cooking;

Under changing environmental conditions, a solar oven can be used in conjunction with other types of ovens to save fuel resources.

The most common types of solar ovens are:

Box view:

A solar oven is a box covered with glass on top, which lets the sun's rays in but does not release thermal energy out. To increase heating, reflective panels are installed on the sides of the structure, which, at a adjusted angle of inclination, direct the sun's rays into the oven. In this type of stove, it is provided that the panels are closed after use for more convenient and safe transportation and storage.

The oven uses direct and reflected scattered sunlight to heat.

Parabolic reflector:

The solar oven is a concave mirror disk, at the focal point of which there is a platform for the container where food is cooked. This type of solar oven requires adjustment to the sun, which is carried out by a manual or automatic drive, which allows you to direct the structure according to the movement of the sun and obtain maximum thermal energy.

There are actually several similar structures in the world. Let's start with Solar Furnace in France, that is, from France.

The Solar Furnace in France is designed to generate and concentrate the high temperatures required for various processes.

This is done by capturing sun rays and concentrating their energy in one place. The structure is covered with curved mirrors, their radiance is so great that it can be impossible to look at them, to the point of pain in the eyes. In 1970, this building was erected as the most suitable place The Eastern Pyrenees were chosen. And up to today The furnace remains the largest in the entire world.

The array of mirrors is assigned the functions of a parabolic reflector, and the high temperature regime at the very focus it can reach up to 3500 degrees. Moreover, you can regulate the temperature by changing the angles of the mirrors.

Solar oven using such natural resource How sunlight, is considered an indispensable method for obtaining high temperatures. And they, in turn, are used for a variety of processes. Thus, the production of hydrogen requires a temperature of 1400 degrees. Test modes for materials carried out in high-temperature conditions include a temperature of 2500 degrees. This is how spacecraft are tested and nuclear reactors.

So the Solar Oven is not just an amazing building, but also vital and efficient, while it is considered an environmentally friendly and relatively cheap way to achieve high temperatures.

The mirror array acts as a parabolic reflector. The light is focused at one center. And the temperature there can reach temperatures at which steel can be melted.

But the temperature can be adjusted by installing mirrors at different angles.

For example, temperatures around 1400 degrees are used to produce hydrogen. Temperature 2500 degrees - for testing materials in extreme conditions. For example, this is how nuclear reactors and spacecraft are checked. But temperatures up to 3500 degrees are used for the production of nanomaterials.

Solar Oven is an inexpensive, efficient and environmentally friendly way to obtain high temperatures.

In the southwest of France, grapes thrive and all kinds of fruits ripen - it's hot! Among other things, the sun shines here almost 300 days a year, and in terms of the number of clear days these places are second, perhaps, only to the Cote d'Azur. If we characterize the valley near Odeyo from the point of view of physics, then the power of light radiation here is 800 watts per 1 square meter. Eight powerful incandescent light bulbs. A little? It’s enough for a piece of basalt to spread into a puddle!

— The solar oven in Odeyo has a capacity of 1 megawatt, and for this it requires almost 3 thousand meters of mirror surface,- says Serge Chauvin, curator of the local solar energy museum. — Moreover, you need to collect light from such a large surface into a focal point with a diameter of a dinner plate.

Opposite the parabolic mirror, heliostats are installed - special mirror plates. There are 63 of them with 180 sections. Each heliostat has its own “point of responsibility” - a sector of the parabola onto which the collected light is reflected. Already on the concave mirror, the rays of the sun are concentrated at the focal point - that same oven. Depending on the intensity of radiation (read: clarity of the sky, time of day and time of year), very different temperatures can be achieved. In theory - up to 3800 degrees Celsius, in reality it turned out to be up to 3600.

— Along with the movement of the sun, heliostats also move across the sky,- Serge Chauvin begins his tour. — Each has an engine at the rear, and together they are controlled centrally. It is not necessary to install them in an ideal position - depending on the tasks of the laboratory, the degree at the focal point can be varied.

The solar oven in Odeyo began to be built in the early 60s, and was put into operation already in the 70s. For a long time it remained the only one of its kind on the planet, but in 1987 a copy was erected near Tashkent. Serge Chauvin smiles: “Yes, yes, exactly a copy.”

The Soviet stove, by the way, also remains operational. However, not only experiments are carried out on it, but also some practical tasks are performed. True, the location of the furnace does not allow achieving the same high temperatures as in France - at the focal point, Uzbek scientists manage to obtain less than 3000 degrees.

The parabolic mirror consists of 9000 plates - facets. Each is polished, aluminum coated and slightly concave for better focusing. After the furnace building was built, all the bevels were installed and calibrated by hand - this took three years!

Serge Chauvin leads us to a site not far from the furnace building. Together with us - a group of tourists who arrived in Odeyo by bus - the flow of lovers of scientific exoticism does not dry out. A museum curator set out to demonstrate the hidden potential of solar energy.

- Madame and Monsieur, your attention!— Although Serge looks more like a scientist, he looks more like an actor. — The light emitted by our star allows materials to be instantly heated, ignited and melted.

A solar furnace employee lifts an ordinary branch and places it in a large vat of mirror glass. inner surface. It takes Serge Chauvin a few seconds to find the point of focus, and the stick instantly bursts into flames. Miracles!

While the French grandparents ooh and ahh, the museum worker moves to a free-standing heliostat and moves it just enough so that the reflected rays hit a smaller copy of a parabolic mirror installed right there. This is another visual experiment showing the capabilities of the sun.

- Madame and Monsieur, now we will melt the metal!

Serge Chauvin places a piece of iron in the holder, moves the vice in search of the focal point and, having found it, moves away a short distance.

The sun quickly does its job.

A piece of iron instantly heats up, begins to smoke and even spark, succumbing to the hot rays. In just 10-15 seconds, a hole the size of a 10-cent coin is burned in it.

- Voila!- Serge rejoices.

As we return to the museum building, and French tourists are seated in the cinema hall to watch a scientific film about the work of the solar oven and laboratory, the caretaker tells us interesting things.

— Most often people ask why all this is needed,- Serge Chauvin throws up his hands. — From a scientific point of view, the possibilities of solar energy have been studied and applied where possible in everyday life. But there are tasks that, due to their scale and complexity of execution, require installations similar to this one. For example, how can we simulate the effect of the sun on the cladding? spaceship? Or the heating of the descent capsule returning from orbit to Earth?

In a special refractory container installed at the focal point of the solar oven, it is possible to recreate such, without exaggeration, unearthly conditions. It has been calculated, for example, that a cladding element must withstand temperatures of 2500 degrees Celsius - and this can be verified experimentally here at Odeio.

The caretaker leads us around the museum, where various exhibits are installed - participants in numerous experiments carried out in the furnace. The carbon brake disc catches our attention...

- Oh, this thing is from a Formula 1 car wheel,- Serge nods. — Its heating under some conditions is comparable to what we can reproduce in the laboratory.

As mentioned above, the temperature at the focal point can be controlled using heliostats. Depending on the experiments performed, it varies from 1400 to 3500 degrees. lower limit required for hydrogen production in the laboratory, range from 2200 to 3000 - for testing various materials under extreme heat conditions. Finally, above 3000 is the area of ​​work with nanomaterials, ceramics and the creation of new materials.

— The oven in Odeyo does not perform practical tasks,- Serge Chauvin continues. — Unlike our Uzbek colleagues, we do not depend on our own economic activity and we deal exclusively with science. Among our customers are not only scientists, but also a variety of departments, such as defense.

We just stop at a ceramic capsule, which turns out to be the hull of a drone ship.

— The War Ministry built a solar furnace of a smaller diameter for its own practical needs here, in the valley near Odeyo,- says Serge. — It can be seen from some sections of the mountain road. But they still turn to us for scientific experiments.

The caretaker explains the advantages of solar energy over any other energy in carrying out scientific tasks.

- First of all, the sun shines for free,- he bends his fingers. — Secondly, mountain air facilitates experiments in a “pure” form - without impurities. Thirdly, sunlight allows materials to be heated much faster than any other installation - for some experiments this is extremely important.

It is curious that the stove can work practically all year round. According to Serge Chauvin, the optimal month for conducting experiments is April.

- But if necessary, the sun will melt a piece of metal for tourists even in January,- the caretaker smiles. — The main thing is that the sky is clear and cloudless.

One of undeniable advantages The very existence of this unique laboratory is its complete openness to tourists. Up to 80 thousand people come here every year, and this does much more to popularize science among adults and children than a school or university.

Font-Romeu-Odeillot is a typical pastoral French town. Its main difference from thousands of the same is the coexistence of the mystery of everyday life and science. Against the background of a 54-meter mirror parabola are mountain dairy cows. And the constant hot sun.

Now let's move on to another building.

Forty-five kilometers from Tashkent, in the Parkent district, in the foothills of the Tien Shan at an altitude of 1050 meters above sea level, there is a unique structure - the so-called Big Solar Furnace (BSP) with a capacity of one thousand kilowatts. It is located on the territory of the Institute of Materials Science NPO “Physics-Sun” of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan. There are only two such ovens in the world, the second is in France.

The BSP was put into operation under the Soviet Union in 1987,” says Mirzasultan Mamatkasymov, scientific secretary of the Institute of Materials Science NPO Physics-Sun, Candidate of Technical Sciences. — Sufficient funds are allocated from the state budget to preserve this unique object. Two laboratories of the institute are located here, four are in Tashkent, where the main scientific base is located, where the study of chemical and physical properties new materials. We carry out the process of their synthesis. We experiment with these materials by observing the melting process at different temperatures.

BSP is a complex optical-mechanical complex with automatic systems management. The complex consists of a heliostat field located on the mountainside that directs the sun's rays into a paraboloid concentrator, which is a giant concave mirror. At the focus of this mirror, the highest temperature is created - 3000 degrees Celsius!

The heliostat field consists of sixty-two heliostats arranged in a checkerboard pattern. They provide the mirror surface of the concentrator with luminous flux in the mode of continuous tracking of the Sun throughout the day. Each heliostat, measuring seven and a half by six and a half meters, consists of 195 flat mirror elements called "facets". The reflective area of ​​the heliostat field is 3022 square meters.

The concentrator, to which the heliostats direct the sun's rays, is a cyclopean structure forty-five meters high and fifty-four meters wide.

It should be noted that the advantage of solar ovens, compared to other types of ovens, is that they instantly achieve high temperature, allowing you to receive clean materials without impurities (thanks also to the purity of the mountain air). They are used for oil and gas, textile and a number of other industries.

Mirrors have a certain service life and sooner or later fail. In our workshops we produce new mirrors, which we install to replace the old ones. There are 10,700 of them in the concentrator alone, and 12,090 in the heliostats. The process of making mirrors takes place in vacuum installations, where aluminum is sprayed onto the surface of used mirrors.

Fergana.Ru:- How do you solve the problem of finding specialists, since after the collapse of the Union there was an outflow of them abroad?

Mirzasultan Mamatkasymov:- At the time the installation was launched in 1987, specialists from Russia and Ukraine worked here and trained our people. Thanks to our experience, we now have the opportunity to train specialists in this field ourselves. Young people come to us from the Faculty of Physics of the National University of Uzbekistan. After graduating from university, I myself have been working here since 1991.

Fergana.Ru:- When you look at this grandiose structure, at the openwork metal constructions, as if floating in the air and at the same time supporting the “armor” of the concentrator, frames of science fiction films come to mind...

Mirzasultan Mamatkasymov:- Well, in my lifetime, no one here has tried to film science fiction using these unique “scenery.” True, Uzbek pop stars came to film their videos.

Mirzasultan Mamatkasymov:- Today we will melt briquettes pressed from powdered aluminum oxide, the melting point of which is 2500 degrees Celsius. During the melting process, the material flows down an inclined plane and drips into a special tray, where granules are formed. They are sent to a ceramic workshop located near the BSP, where they are crushed and used to make various ceramic products, ranging from small thread feeders for the textile industry to hollow ceramic balls that look like billiard balls. Balls are used in the oil and gas industry as floats. At the same time, evaporation from the surface of petroleum products stored in large containers at oil depots is reduced by 15-20 percent. Behind last years We have manufactured about six hundred thousand of these floats.

We produce insulators and other products for the electrical industry. They are characterized by increased wear resistance and strength. In addition to aluminum oxide, we also use a more refractory material - zirconium oxide with a melting point of 2700 degrees Celsius.

The smelting process is monitored by a so-called “technical vision system”, which is equipped with two special television cameras. One of them directly transfers the image to a separate monitor, the other to a computer. The system allows you to both observe the melting process and carry out various measurements.

It should be added that the BSP is also used as a universal astrophysical instrument, opening up the possibility of studying the starry sky at night.

In addition to the above work, the institute pays great attention to the production of medical equipment based on functional ceramics (sterilizers), abrasive instruments, dryers and much more. Such equipment has been successfully introduced into medical institutions in our republic, as well as into similar institutions in Malaysia, Germany, Georgia and Russia.

In parallel, the institute developed low-power solar installations. For example, the institute’s scientists created solar furnaces with a capacity of one and a half kilowatts, which were installed on the territory of the Tabbin Institute of Metallurgy (Egypt) and at the International Metallurgical Center in Hyderabad (India).

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And here's more on this topic . Of course, let’s also remember in general about . Oh yes, but you know

He originally tried to build this stove out of Styrofoam. After some initial testing, the craftsman discovered that the foam was difficult to cut straight. Foam board crumbles too easily even with the sharpest knife. The choice was either to make a foam cutter or use another material. In the end, the master settled on plywood.

An excellent material for the reflector was purchased at a local store - an aluminized sheet of paper. Its reflectivity turned out to be high enough for the project to work. If you can't find this material, aluminum foil mounted on cardboard will also work.

The total cost of the product was about $35, including plywood, reflective poster paper, etc.

Tools and materials:
-Plywood;
- Fasteners;
-Aluminum coated paper;
-Loops;
-Wooden skewers;
-Carpentry glue;
-Wood finishing;
-CNC machine with a usable working area of ​​at least 24 (609.6 mm) x 28 inches (711.2);
-Sandpaper;
-Knife;
-Saw;
-Drill;
-Clamps;

Step one: theory
On Earth, the total energy flow (flux density) from the Sun is called the solar constant. The value of the solar constant is approximately 1360 watts per square meter or 1.995 calories per square cm when measured on a surface perpendicular to incident sunlight. This number does not change because the distance between the Earth and the Sun is approximately constant throughout the annual orbit.

The solar oven that the master is building is about 60 cm wide. The parabolic shape of the collector concentrates the energy on the spit, so the energy for each centimeter of length will be energy that is concentrated at a local 1 cm of width in the collector. In this case, that works out to 1,991 calories per square cm per minute x 60 cm (width) = 117 calories per minute of solar energy for every cm of length along the skewer.

Detailed scientific measurements -))) have shown that a typical sausage has a diameter of about 2.5 cm. This gives the radius of the sausage about 1.25 cm. The volume of a hot dog or anything else is its length times its area cross section. The cross-sectional area will be equal to A = Pi times the square of the radius. This means that each linear centimeter of the sausage has a volume of (1.25 x 1.25 x 3.14) = 5 cubic centimeters.

The mass of any object is its density times its volume. According to the manufacturer of the sausages the master used, each sausage weighed 57 grams. With a length of about 12 cm, this gives a volume of about 4.8 g per cm. This results in a sausage density of just under 1 gram per cubic centimeter.

Combining these energy costs per centimeter and mass per centimeter, it turns out that 117 / 4.8 = 24 calories of energy per gram are added to the sausage every minute. Thus, every second we gain enough energy to raise the temperature of the hot dog by about 24 degrees Celsius every minute when its internal temperature is about 20 °C.

But this is true when ideal conditions without loss. Considering losses, the actual net efficiency of the cooker is about 20%, the hot dog's temperature rise and should be about 5 degrees Celsius per minute in bright sunlight. It takes about 15 minutes to heat the sausage to 80°C from an initial temperature of 20°C.

There are actually several similar structures in the world. Let's start with Solar Furnace in France, that is, from France.

The Solar Furnace in France is designed to generate and concentrate the high temperatures required for various processes.

This is done by capturing the sun's rays and concentrating their energy in one place. The structure is covered with curved mirrors, their radiance is so great that it can be impossible to look at them, to the point of pain in the eyes. This structure was erected in 1970, with the Eastern Pyrenees chosen as the most suitable location. And to this day the Furnace remains the largest in the world.

Photo 2.

The array of mirrors functions as a parabolic reflector, and the high temperature regime at the focus itself can reach up to 3500 degrees. Moreover, you can regulate the temperature by changing the angles of the mirrors.

Solar Furnace, using natural resource such as sunlight, is considered an indispensable method for obtaining high temperatures. And they, in turn, are used for a variety of processes. Thus, the production of hydrogen requires a temperature of 1400 degrees. Test modes for materials carried out in high-temperature conditions include a temperature of 2500 degrees. This is how spacecraft and nuclear reactors are tested.

Photo 3.

So the Solar Oven is not just an amazing building, but also vital and efficient, while it is considered an environmentally friendly and relatively cheap way to get high temperatures.

The mirror array acts as a parabolic reflector. The light is focused at one center. And the temperature there can reach temperatures at which steel can be melted.

But the temperature can be adjusted by installing mirrors at different angles.

For example, temperatures around 1400 degrees are used to produce hydrogen. Temperature 2500 degrees – for testing materials in extreme conditions. For example, this is how nuclear reactors and spacecraft are checked. But temperatures up to 3500 degrees are used for the production of nanomaterials.

Solar Oven is an inexpensive, efficient and environmentally friendly way to obtain high temperatures.

Photo 5.

In the southwest of France, grapes thrive and all kinds of fruits ripen - it's hot! Among other things, the sun shines here almost 300 days a year, and in terms of the number of clear days these places are second, perhaps, only to the Cote d'Azur. If we characterize the valley near Odeyo from the point of view of physics, then the power of light radiation here is 800 watts per 1 square meter. Eight powerful incandescent light bulbs. A little? It’s enough for a piece of basalt to spread into a puddle!

Photo 6.

- The solar oven in Odeyo has a capacity of 1 megawatt, and for this it requires almost 3 thousand meters of mirror surface,- says Serge Chauvin, curator of the local solar energy museum. - Moreover, you need to collect light from such a large surface into a focal point with a diameter of a dinner plate.

Photo 7.

Opposite the parabolic mirror, heliostats are installed - special mirror plates. There are 63 of them with 180 sections. Each heliostat has its own “point of responsibility” - a sector of the parabola onto which the collected light is reflected. Already on the concave mirror, the sun's rays gather at the focal point - that same oven. Depending on the intensity of radiation (read: clarity of the sky, time of day and time of year), very different temperatures can be achieved. In theory - up to 3800 degrees Celsius, in reality it turned out to be up to 3600.

Photo 8.

- Along with the movement of the sun, heliostats also move across the sky,- Serge Chauvin begins his tour. - Each has an engine at the rear, and together they are controlled centrally. It is not necessary to install them in an ideal position - depending on the tasks of the laboratory, the degree at the focal point can be varied.

Photo 9.

The solar oven in Odeyo began to be built in the early 60s, and was put into operation already in the 70s. For a long time it remained the only one of its kind on the planet, but in 1987 a copy was erected near Tashkent. Serge Chauvin smiles: “Yes, yes, exactly a copy.”

The Soviet stove, by the way, also remains operational. However, not only experiments are carried out on it, but also some practical tasks are performed. True, the location of the furnace does not allow achieving the same high temperatures as in France - at the focal point, Uzbek scientists manage to obtain less than 3000 degrees.

The parabolic mirror consists of 9000 plates - facets. Each is polished, aluminum coated and slightly concave for better focusing. After the furnace building was built, all bevels were installed and calibrated by hand - this took three years!

Serge Chauvin leads us to a site not far from the furnace building. Together with us - a group of tourists who arrived in Odeyo by bus - the flow of lovers of scientific exoticism does not dry out. A museum curator set out to demonstrate the hidden potential of solar energy.

- Madame and Monsieur, your attention!- Although Serge looks more like a scientist, he looks more like an actor. - The light emitted by our star allows materials to be instantly heated, ignited and melted.

Photo 10.

Photo 4.

A solar oven employee lifts an ordinary branch and places it in a large vat with a mirror-like interior. It takes Serge Chauvin a few seconds to find the point of focus, and the stick instantly bursts into flames. Miracles!

While the French grandparents ooh and ahh, the museum worker moves to a free-standing heliostat and moves it just enough so that the reflected rays hit a smaller copy of a parabolic mirror installed right there. This is another visual experiment showing the capabilities of the sun.

- Madame and Monsieur, now we will melt the metal!

Serge Chauvin places a piece of iron in the holder, moves the vice in search of the focal point and, having found it, moves away a short distance.

The sun quickly does its job.

A piece of iron instantly heats up, begins to smoke and even spark, succumbing to the hot rays. In just 10-15 seconds a hole the size of a 10 euro cent coin is burned through it.

- Voila!- Serge rejoices.

As we return to the museum building, and French tourists are seated in the cinema hall to watch a scientific film about the work of the solar oven and laboratory, the caretaker tells us interesting things.

- Most often people ask why all this is needed,- Serge Chauvin throws up his hands. - From a scientific point of view, the possibilities of solar energy have been studied and applied where possible in everyday life. But there are tasks that, due to their scale and complexity of execution, require installations similar to this one. For example, how do we model the effect of the sun on the skin of a spacecraft? Or the heating of the descent capsule returning from orbit to Earth?

In a special refractory container installed at the focal point of the solar oven, it is possible to recreate such, without exaggeration, unearthly conditions. It has been calculated, for example, that a cladding element must withstand temperatures of 2500 degrees Celsius - and this can be verified experimentally here at Odeio.

The caretaker leads us around the museum, where various exhibits are installed - participants in numerous experiments carried out in the furnace. The carbon brake disc catches our attention...

- Oh, this thing is from a Formula 1 car wheel,- Serge nods. - Its heating under some conditions is comparable to what we can reproduce in the laboratory.

As mentioned above, the temperature at the focal point can be controlled using heliostats. Depending on the experiments performed, it varies from 1400 to 3500 degrees. The lower limit is necessary for producing hydrogen in the laboratory, the range from 2200 to 3000 is for testing various materials under extreme heat conditions. Finally, above 3000 is the area of ​​work with nanomaterials, ceramics and the creation of new materials.

- The oven in Odeyo does not perform practical tasks,- Serge Chauvin continues. - Unlike our Uzbek colleagues, we do not depend on our own economic activities and are engaged exclusively in science. Among our customers are not only scientists, but also a variety of departments, such as defense.

We just stop at a ceramic capsule, which turns out to be the hull of a drone ship.

- The War Ministry built a solar furnace of a smaller diameter for its own practical needs here, in the valley near Odeyo,- says Serge. - It can be seen from some sections of the mountain road. But they still turn to us for scientific experiments.

The caretaker explains the advantages of solar energy over any other energy in carrying out scientific tasks.

- First of all, the sun shines for free,- he bends his fingers. - Secondly, mountain air facilitates experiments in a “pure” form - without impurities. Thirdly, sunlight allows materials to be heated much faster than any other installation - for some experiments this is extremely important.

Interestingly, the stove can operate almost all year round. According to Serge Chauvin, the optimal month for conducting experiments is April.

- But if necessary, the sun will melt a piece of metal for tourists even in January,- the caretaker smiles. - The main thing is that the sky is clear and cloudless.

One of the undeniable advantages of the very existence of this unique laboratory is its complete openness to tourists. Up to 80 thousand people come here every year, and this does much more to popularize science among adults and children than a school or university.

Font-Romeu-Odeillot is a typical pastoral French town. Its main difference from thousands of the same is the coexistence of the mystery of everyday life and science. Against the background of a 54-meter mirror parabola are mountain dairy cows. And the constant hot sun.

Photo 11.

Photo 12.

Photo 13.

Photo 14.

Now let's move on to another building.

Forty-five kilometers from Tashkent, in the Parkent district, in the foothills of the Tien Shan at an altitude of 1050 meters above sea level, there is a unique structure - the so-called Big Solar Furnace (BSP) with a capacity of one thousand kilowatts. It is located on the territory of the Institute of Materials Science NPO “Physics-Sun” of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan. There are only two such ovens in the world, the second is in France.

The BSP was put into operation under the Soviet Union in 1987,” says Mirzasultan Mamatkasymov, scientific secretary of the Institute of Materials Science NPO Physics-Sun, Candidate of Technical Sciences. — Sufficient funds are allocated from the state budget to preserve this unique object. Two laboratories of the institute are located here, four are in Tashkent, where the main scientific base is located, where the chemical and physical properties of new materials are studied. We carry out the process of their synthesis. We experiment with these materials by observing the melting process at different temperatures.

The BSP is a complex optical-mechanical complex with automatic control systems. The complex consists of a heliostat field located on the mountainside that directs the sun's rays into a paraboloid concentrator, which is a giant concave mirror. At the focus of this mirror, the highest temperature is created - 3000 degrees Celsius!

Photo 15.

The heliostat field consists of sixty-two heliostats arranged in a checkerboard pattern. They provide the mirror surface of the concentrator with luminous flux in the mode of continuous tracking of the Sun throughout the day. Each heliostat, measuring seven and a half by six and a half meters, consists of 195 flat mirror elements called "facets". The reflective area of ​​the heliostat field is 3022 square meters.

The concentrator, to which the heliostats direct the sun's rays, is a cyclopean structure forty-five meters high and fifty-four meters wide.

Photo 16.

It should be noted that the advantage of solar furnaces, compared to other types of furnaces, is the instantaneous achievement of high temperatures, which makes it possible to obtain pure materials without impurities (thanks also to the purity of the mountain air). They are used for oil and gas, textile and a number of other industries.

Mirrors have a certain service life and sooner or later fail. In our workshops we produce new mirrors, which we install to replace the old ones. There are 10,700 of them in the concentrator alone, and 12,090 in the heliostats. The process of making mirrors takes place in vacuum installations, where aluminum is sprayed onto the surface of used mirrors.

Photo 17.

Fergana.Ru:- How do you solve the problem of finding specialists, since after the collapse of the Union there was an outflow of them abroad?

Mirzasultan Mamatkasymov:- At the time the installation was launched in 1987, specialists from Russia and Ukraine worked here and trained our people. Thanks to our experience, we now have the opportunity to train specialists in this field ourselves. Young people come to us from the Faculty of Physics of the National University of Uzbekistan. After graduating from university, I myself have been working here since 1991.

Fergana.Ru:- When you look at this grandiose structure, at the openwork metal structures, as if floating in the air and at the same time supporting the “armor” of the concentrator, frames of science fiction films come to mind...

Mirzasultan Mamatkasymov:- Well, in my lifetime, no one here has tried to film science fiction using these unique “scenery.” True, Uzbek pop stars came to film their videos.

Photo 18.

Mirzasultan Mamatkasymov:- Today we will melt briquettes pressed from powdered aluminum oxide, the melting point of which is 2500 degrees Celsius. During the melting process, the material flows down an inclined plane and drips into a special tray, where granules are formed. They are sent to a ceramic workshop located near the BSP, where they are crushed and used to make various ceramic products, ranging from small thread feeders for the textile industry to hollow ceramic balls that look like billiard balls. Balls are used in the oil and gas industry as floats. At the same time, evaporation from the surface of petroleum products stored in large containers at oil depots is reduced by 15-20 percent. In recent years, we have manufactured about six hundred thousand of these floats.

Photo 19.

We produce insulators and other products for the electrical industry. They are characterized by increased wear resistance and strength. In addition to aluminum oxide, we also use a more refractory material - zirconium oxide with a melting point of 2700 degrees Celsius.

The smelting process is monitored by a so-called “technical vision system”, which is equipped with two special television cameras. One of them directly transfers the image to a separate monitor, the other to a computer. The system allows you to both observe the melting process and carry out various measurements.

Photo 20.

It should be added that the BSP is also used as a universal astrophysical instrument, opening up the possibility of studying the starry sky at night.

In addition to the above work, the institute pays great attention to the production of medical equipment based on functional ceramics (sterilizers), abrasive instruments, dryers and much more. Such equipment has been successfully introduced into medical institutions in our republic, as well as into similar institutions in Malaysia, Germany, Georgia and Russia.

In parallel, the institute developed low-power solar installations. For example, the institute’s scientists created solar furnaces with a capacity of one and a half kilowatts, which were installed on the territory of the Tabbin Institute of Metallurgy (Egypt) and at the International Metallurgical Center in Hyderabad (India).

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Using the free energy of the sun is very tempting. Freebies - they always attract.

I already wrote about, and this article is about how to cook food using light from the sun.

First, about the homemade solar oven.

Making a solar oven with your own hands is very simple, you just need to concentrate the incident light to one point and you’re done.

Here is a simple method of concentration - using film and water.

In such an installation you can melt metal and cook food.

The installation is permanent and suitable for country house or dachas. Well, or a shelter located in such a way that there is no electricity connection to it.

It is the latter condition – the unavailability of electricity – that most often becomes the reason for the manufacture of a solar oven. The sun, of course, also doesn’t shine sufficiently every day, but saving gas or gasoline when cooking on clear days is a very good idea.

A portable solar concentrator can be easily made from mirror film.

The main thing is to give the mirror layer a concavity - glue the central part to the bottom before fixing the edges of the mirror film.

How to make a solar oven with your own hands

This video shows the drawings of a solar oven and the theory of its operation.

And here is the continuation - step by step production solar stove.

Demonstration of how a solar oven works.

As you can see, a solar oven is very simple to manufacture and works even in winter, if, of course, it is a sunny day.

However, you cannot take such structures on a hike, and sometimes, especially if you travel in winter in steppe or mountainous areas, you have to carry fuel with you. On such trips, a portable solar oven is very appropriate.

Here ready-made example portable solar stove in the shape of a pipe, runs exclusively on solar energy - not a drop of fuel is used to prepare barbecue and other delicious food.

Where to buy a solar oven