Talk:Parabolic trough

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The article mentions "Stirling dish concentrators" but the link to "Stirling" is the place in Scotland and nothing to do with this subject. Also Googling brings up nothing that I can see obviously under this title. So this reference should be removed until it can be substantiated. 82.70.14.150 15:18, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Efficiency Question

What is the efficiency obtained by parabolic throughs, as far as kWh electricity delivered/kWh incoming solar radiation? It'd be nice to know the numbers, including the high temperature/low temperature of the thermal engines used to convert heat to electricity. Ultimately the $invested/kWh delivered is what matters, and parabolic throughs may beat all other solar technologies in this regard. Also, total area required matters too, so if something like a parabolic through is say 0.2% efficient, while a photovoltaic array delivers 15%, unless land area is extremely cheap, if their cost per kWh delivered are within the same order of magnitude, the higher efficiency system may be preferred, for maintenance reasons too. Sillybilly (talk) 15:28, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

The answer is already in the article: The heat transfer fluid is then used to heat steam in a standard turbine generator. The process is economical and, for heating the pipe, thermal efficiency ranges from 60-80%. The overall efficiency from collector to grid, i.e. (Electrical Output Power)/(Total Impinging Solar Power) is about 15%, similar to PV(Photovoltaic Cells) and less than Stirling dish concentrators.Sillybilly (talk) 02:13, 20 May 2008 (UTC)