The Salt River Project SunDish Dish-Stirling System

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Abstract
The SunDish is a solar thermal power system designed to produce utility-grade electricity from concentrated sunlight. The system is based on a reflective solar dish concentrator that concentrates solar energy to a Stirling engine/generator, producing a net output of up to 22kW at 1000 W/sq. m. of insolation (Stine and Diver, 1994). Salt River Project (SRP), Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), STM Corporation, and the U.S. Department of Energy have cooperated to install and operate a prototype SunDish at the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Landfill (SRP-MICL) in Tempe, Arizona. Operational results and experiences are discussed. At the site, methane gas is collected from the landfill and used as fuel in the SunDish to generate electricity when sunlight is not available due to clouds, and at night. Gas operation has presented some challenges, and operational experiences and incidents are discussed. Finally, design changes and system improvements that have resulted from operation of the prototype SunDish are discussed.

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