Has anyone built a Solar powered rankine cycle system?

[glennt]

I trying to build one. I have a 6ft dish. Working on the heat exchange. Using a small turbine.

Anyone else built such a thing?

[renewablejohn]

More of a commercial scale but we have just got planning permission to build a 200 m2 thermal solar array to heat thermal oil for a superheated steam drying plant which will be used to dry woodchip and grass for wood pellet and grass pellet production. The steam output from the dryer will be used in a conventional steam turbine to generate electric exported to the grid. Backup thermal oil heating will be provided by a biomass gasifier.

[longstroke]

renewablejohn - do you have a website with your many systems on? They all sound intriguing but I'm guessing you don't run them as a tourist attraction.

[glennt]

That is impressive. Not the sort of answer I was expecting and a great application by the sounds. I'm just looking at doing something on a small scale. At least to start with !

What type of solar array are you planning/building. Dish? solar troughs? Is it a 100% custom build or have you bought in some sections?

[renewablejohn]

renewablejohn - do you have a website with your many systems on? They all sound intriguing but I'm guessing you don't run them as a tourist attraction.

longstroke

Really just a standard industrial process using off the shelf equipment. Not many tourists interested in watching wet woodchip on a conveyor belt followed by dry woodchip on a conveyor belt.

http://www.barr-rosin.com/products/super-heated-steam-drying.asp

Ideas welcome for making into a tourist attraction

[renewablejohn]

That is impressive. Not the sort of answer I was expecting and a great application by the sounds. I'm just looking at doing something on a small scale. At least to start with !

What type of solar array are you planning/building. Dish? solar troughs? Is it a 100% custom build or have you bought in some sections?

On a small domestic scale I have developed a system similar to that employed by cool energy in Canada

http://www.coolenergyinc.com/solar.html

using Ritter high temperature solar panels heating thermal oil with a steam evaporator providing the DHW and TEG's connected to the UFH replacing the Stirling engine. As backup to the solar we have permission to use the Dunsley Yorkshire biomass boiler but using thermal oil as the heat transfer fluid. The system also includes thermal oil appliances of cooker,hob and washer but at present can only find commercial units which are very chunky. I am still awaiting independent performance figures from my local university in respect of the best performing solar panels for the application.