World’s Largest Solar Array to use Stirling Engine

Stirling engines are not a neglected or forgotten technology after all. With 20 years of in-the-field fine-tuning, Stirling Energy Systems is now ready to go big — real big. They signed a purchase agreement Tuesday with Southern California Edison, to install a 20,000 dish array that will cover 1,800 hectares and will be capable of generating 500 megawatts of electricity — more than all other US solar projects combined — making this the largest solar installation in the world. Each collector has a 11m diameter array of mirrors to focus the sun’s rays on the Stirling engine, which turns the heat into rotational torque for electricity generation