New technology produces solar energy at night with a cost-effective system highlighting efficiency improvements.
The new technology featured in this study solves the problem of producing solar-powered energy at night at a lower cost than the current technology. The system features a solar collector that traps sunlight between a pair of opposing parabolic mirrors and a Stirling engine powered by solar-heated air to drive an electric generator. It is a mathematical approach that applies the fundamentals of thermodynamics and structural engineering to hardware design. The calculations show that the ratio of the cost of construction to the energy generated is $2539 per megawatt-hour per year. Thus, this design will cost less than the lithium-ion batteries and heated-medium storage tanks currently in use for nighttime solar power generation. The continuing cost reductions of daytime photovoltaic power generators coupled with this new nighttime power-generation system will convert the world's deserts into wealth-generating power houses.
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Steven Pripps (2025) studied this question.
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