Light engine

From the principle of focusing light, solar energy in the mirror, light reflecting, focus on the engine, the group of scientists Institute of Physics of Vietnam Institute of Science and Technology has made the engine of energy Light into electricity, power.

Ts. Nguyen The Hung, director of the project, said that the first days of testing the team used paper paste on a self-made concave mirror, converting heat source burned paper, wire. With the help of his colleagues, he found a Russian recessed mirror with a diameter of more than 40 cm with high accuracy, accurate focus of light, the temperature can be heated red iron rods.

Based on the principle of heat dissipation in nature, he speculated on a third power point capable of capturing the energy from the sun to warm the air in the engine. Hot air is expanding, producing thrust, causing the cylinder to move. From there, he thought of designing a sun-powered engine.

However, it is not easy to manufacture the engine because the exact level of mechanics in Vietnam does not meet the requirements, so even though the temperature is high, the engine does not work. Through many improvements, from the concave mirror, the heat absorption point on the engine, the hot air chamber in the cylinder, finally, the engine also works.

According to some countries applying technology to produce electricity from light engines, 1m2 indented mirror can collect heat to produce about 1,300W. According to this calculation, the efficiency of the sunlight of the engine is about 30%. Thus, with the efficiency of 30%, the electricity produced from 1m2 glass equivalent to 400W. With 100m2 mirror glass can produce electricity equivalent to 40,000W. In particular, the deployment of this technology does not take up space, can be installed anywhere, the capacity is customized and does not consume large transmission network, easy operation and maintenance ... In addition, the engine running Light uses sunlight so it does not harm the environment and can take advantage of endless resources.

Ts. Hung also said that the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology is considering the construction of a pilot project so that the research team can continue to improve the technology. The research team is currently working on a second light engine with an output of 200W. Production is expected to be completed by early 2010.