Solar Ponds

So I am guessing that a number of you have heard of solar ponds and Im not simply refering to them for the fact of hot water or heating purposes, Im refering to them for the express purpose of generating electricity (although not limited to that).
I am wondering what y'all think of them? I think I have some slight modifications that could improve their efficiency and make it viable. I'm sure that a number of you have seen this article or others like it: http://motherearthnews.com/library/1980_May_June/Israel_s_150_KW_Solar_Pond
150 KW is alot of electricity! I've read other articles about people who have gotten the temps to 109 degrees C (228 F) which is pretty amazing. I think though that it is inefficient to have it in an actual round pond shape. I think it would be better to have more like a trough with the same overall surface area but with it long like that you could actually do several things to improve its use now. For one thing you could now put sterling engines in with one side actually sitting in the hot water and then have the other side having cool air blown accross it from earth tubes (you know, the long conduits that you draw cool air through and it comes out at like 55 degrees) so you are creating a large tempurature differential causing the engine to spin quicker. I think you could also have water pipes running through the bottom of the hot water where the water in the pipe did not mix with the water in the pond but the pond heated the pipe and the pipe then ran to a hot water heater or something.
I kind of figure with my house being setup for efficiency like I plan it to be it will use a fraction of the power that most houses use. If a 1 3/4 acre pond can produce 150 KW and I only need an avg of .5 KW then thats like 1/300th the size which is .006 acres to power my house (and im still figuring things up, there is alot to think about, but i think i can get the house much more efficient than that!)
So anyway, just looking for thoughts/suggestions/opinions.
Logan

"Logan" wrote:

I'm sure that a number of you have seen this article or others like it: http://motherearthnews.com/library/1980_May_June/Israel_s_150_KW_Solar_Pond

Didn't someone recently say it's defunct?

I think my last messege didnt work right:
Defunct how? I'd love to know it if it is because I am trying to plan the house I will be building to retire in in a few years.

"Logan" wrote in message

So I am guessing that a number of you have heard of solar ponds and Im not simply refering to them for the fact of hot water or heating purposes, Im refering to them for the express purpose of generating electricity (although not limited to that).
I am wondering what y'all think of them? I think I have some slight modifications that could improve their efficiency and make it viable. I'm sure that a number of you have seen this article or others like it: http://motherearthnews.com/library/1980_May_June/Israel_s_150_KW_Solar_Pond
150 KW is alot of electricity! I've read other articles about people who have gotten the temps to 109 degrees C (228 F) which is pretty amazing. I think though that it is inefficient to have it in an actual round pond shape. I think it would be better to have more like a trough with the same overall surface area but with it long like that you could actually do several things to improve its use now. For one thing you could now put sterling engines in with one side actually sitting in the hot water and then have the other side having cool air blown accross it from earth tubes (you know, the long conduits that you draw cool air through and it comes out at like 55 degrees) so you are creating a large tempurature differential causing the engine to spin quicker. I think you could also have water pipes running through the bottom of the hot water where the water in the pipe did not mix with the water in the pond but the pond heated the pipe and the pipe then ran to a hot water heater or something.
I kind of figure with my house being setup for efficiency like I plan it to be it will use a fraction of the power that most houses use. If a 1 3/4 acre pond can produce 150 KW and I only need an avg of .5 KW then thats like 1/300th the size which is .006 acres to power my house (and im still figuring things up, there is alot to think about, but i think i can get the house much more efficient than that!)
So anyway, just looking for thoughts/suggestions/opinions.

One question. Do you get as much sunshine as the Dead sea area??
daestrom

"Logan" wrote:

I think my last messege didnt work right:

I think you are right, I never saw it...

Defunct how? I'd love to know it if it is because I am trying to plan the house I will be building to retire in in a few years.

Someone recently told me they had been to the site where it had been, and it was defunct. Maybe it was another forum, or an island I'm involved with that looked very seriously into the idea of a solar pond, or something, but that factoid stuck in my head. It ought to be easy enough to verify.

probably not :) I still believe it is a completely viable option (purely based on ammount of sunlight.. other problems are a dif story) because while I may not get quite the same tempuratures I believe I can still get them pretty high. The area of west virginia I was looking at retiring to is very sunny most of the year even when it gets cold outside. And there was a pond in texas I read about that had actually frozen over for a time and it was still maintaining lows of 140 degrees F.
So I think it is viable... I dunno though, thats why Im asking you guys :)
Logan