The claim made for the solar concentrator-Stirling array is that the Stirling engine is more efficient than PV cells, which top out at about 25%, with fairly elaborate construction. Presumeably the tracking systems can be had for modest cost in large quantity. In previous studies of this configuration the cost of individual trackers has been so high as to make large scale deployment uneconomical. There have been other configurations, like a boiler on a tower surrounded by a large array of tracking mirrors focusing energy on the boiler. A lot of work has gone in afocal concentrators to work with PV cells as well.
The energy is there. But note that the system is designed so that at night the mirrors turn downward so the Stirling engines are near ground level for maintenance. Converting the ouput of the thousands of individual generators into phase-locked 60 Hz is an ambitious effort but well within the current electrical engineering technology. Although I'm an EE, I'm not going to speculalte on the best way to do this without a lot more information. Jed is right, that it is not wise to concentrate the whole system in one place for any number of reasons. The scale of the project in terms of numbers and areas is big when you look at it in one piece, but is essentially doable. Others have pointed out that if you could make the US highway system into a PV solar collector, there would be plenty of power for everyone. Or of you put it in the Arizona desert. All the solar systems have to be cleaned, and a vulnerable wot weather and damage from storms, in comparison with a hydroelectric dam. As for storage, there are many systeems available. In some places, already power plants pump water into an elevated resivoir in off peak periods, to use to cover peaks. Flywheel storage is effective under certain conditions, as well as advanced batteries, etc. It is not a question of if it can be done, it can, but under what circumstances is it cost effective and will people buy it, at what price? In the US we are not accustomed to economizing, as are people elsewhere; there is a tendency to confuse the ability to waste with wealth and power. My wife and I live in a metropolitan suburban neighborhood. She is a professional musician whose engagement are often distant and away from public transportation. Personl, on-demand mobility is essential. One regular engagement is 50 miles away. Mike Carrell
