The Pursuit of More Solar Power

[@UNVIRUSLETALE]

Didn't expect a video tonight but it's definitely a welcome surprise

[@SAMR00D]

You can buy a spray that you put on the back of acrylic that tones it into a reflective thing

[@nickjones7737]

Awesome. Glad to see you're back

[@bryancunningham1095]

Enjoy your videos, retired now and I am doing fun stuff in the shop/lab, like this video, knew there was a good reason for saving all those Purdue overhead projector lens everytime the campus threw these away, have over 100 of these also the 2 large lab ozone generators the campus used these have 35k plus voltage at .25 amp, make a good power supply for some homemade lasers that I watched you build on some other of your videos.

[@JeremyRoberts007]

Welcome back!

[@kdahm1]

So happy you're back. Was about to go to bed and then...nope. Ty man.

[@nickjones7737]

Nice squarebody hiding behind those tvs! I have one over here in the UK

[@12setver]

Man keep doing what you're doing! You've risen to my top youtubers of all time, in no time. Like a cross between Tech Ingredients and This Old Tony. Think its time you got the sub count you deserve.

[@ShaneCranor]

heck yeah, graphs

[@ogfoxhound]

Solar tracking aluminum furnace, perfect idea

[@pioneer1943]

Wooooh, finally, where the hell have you been?? I'm glad you're back :)

[@pioneer1943]

Never mind, I really gotta watch before commenting lol

[@badmacdonald]

glad yer back.

[@seabeepirate]

I’d watch both a furnace and a fresnel CNC. I’ve wondered about a solar still, for drinking water of course!

[@TheAdmiralBacon]

I'd love to see that solar-tracking aluminium melter! That'd be so cool

[@TheIndustrialphreak]

your welcome com-rad for the solar sinter video link! I really think its about surface area to gather up the square footage of solar potential. There are some exotic ways to pump light like how DARPA builds long ranged variable focal point laser platforms then there are multiplexed parabolic mirrors, they look like chimney thinga ma bobers to keep birds and shit out of chimneys.

[@ebrewste]

I made a solar collector for a high school physics project years ago. I made a 4 x 8 foot box out of plywood and cut the biggest ellipse I could fit in one side. I stretched reflective mylar over it and pulled a vacuum with a vacuum cleaner. It makes an ellipsoid-ish shape that focuses pretty tightly to a line. It was enough to set a hot dog on fire in a minute or two. Might be a fun test.

[@cranktowncity]

I love this idea man, such a simple way to get a precise shape

[@tommydrake5682]

nice to see you^^

[@AS-ug2vq]

Want to see you using dry ice to fill a large high pressure co2 gas cylinder and use it for welding. Dry ice is dirty cheap at grocery stores but does it work for mig welding? No one has ever shown that on KZbin!

[@julias-shed]

Good to see you are back 😀 furnace sounds like fun 😀

[@Deveyus]

I think it's time to look into prisms... Gathering and refracting light, then giving it to your fresnel lens to concentrate....

[@sumguy2858]

It would be interesting to see if the smaller lens would be able to stand the heat of the larger lens in order to focus the light more.

[@Pest789]

This must happen. Also, unless I'm a complete numpty, you can bend the small one to remove the aberration from the big ones, right?

[@alexstone691]

It shouldn't heat up that much as it only redirects lights (with minimal losses) afaik

[@sumguy2858]

@@Pest789 Good point. On that note it might be worth it to have a way to adjust the sag in the larger lens as well. A small rod pushing up in the center shouldn't block much light.

[@SolarCookingGermany]

it'll most likely destroy the plastic (I destroyed glass before, even a tempered oven glass)

[@sumguy2858]

@@SolarCookingGermany That's what I was concerned about. I assume that there is some combination of distance and angle that would work to focus the light and not melt the second lens.

[@billhacks]

Awesome video! melting stuff for a practical reason seems like a really neat idea. I seem to remember greenpowerscience messing with these as well.

[@FinlayShellard]

Awesome stuff mate! the dead battery in the welding helmet has also plagued me for the last week, just got to squint alot more.

[@cranktowncity]

haha sometimes its just easier to lose a bit of vision than it is to change a battery

[@jaggederest]

Focus the big array on a graphite crucible, can almost guarantee you'd get it hot enough to fully melt aluminum. Solar energy will be able to get up to 5000 kelvin if perfectly concentrated, which is plenty hot to melt anything you like, except perhaps some extremely high temperature ceramics.

[@AdricM]

Those tv fresnel lenses are frosted on the back. ive seen folks try and unfrost it with solvents, but might do as well with clear stick on lamination film.

[@noanyobiseniss7462]

Convert that energy into electricity and see what efficiency you can get. It is free after all.

[@ІгорДутко-к8т]

Awesome!

[@oilio5465]

You need a way to cnc control a big moving lens, focused on a statuary canvas

[@fb___4255]

Always glad to see you here man, thanks for the amazing video as usual. I hope your business is going great and to see you here again soon.

[@canonicaltom]

Solar tracking death ray, yes!

[@edgeeffect]

Could you put a laser galvo with it's mirror at the focal point of the triple monstrosity and use that for a CNC???

[@alex4alexn]

keep crushing it dude, love the projects

[@TheMachDisk]

So what happens if you put one of the smaller lenses in front of the big spot to focus it down to a dot?

[@juansolo1617]

You should do an experiment with a big sand battery... see how fast you can heat it up with the beam. I'm not sure if it would melt the sand, maybe you could put some kind of heat sink bar going down thru the center and aim the beam at that... as long as it's got a high melting temperature. If you could heat a sand battery quickly it might have applications with sterling engine generators for low wattage production.

[@sillyarms8493]

Just found your channel. Love this stuff.

[@lumotroph]

So cool. Please continue!

[@islanzadi1]

Make the Aluminium melting thingie

[@petithor]

this is the best , i'll show this to my kids when i find someone who agrees to make some with me

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

Shoot the light into a fiber optic cable, then you could really use it on a cnc.

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

You can actually find some stuff about this, its been tested as a way to save money on illumination on buildings etc.

[@gorak9000]

You'd need a much better lens arrangement to focus the light to a fiber - maybe a bundle of fibers would work, like a fiber light source on a microscope uses. A single fiber would be pretty impractical in this application. A fiber bundle you could have another focusing lens right at the work surface that could aid in getting a more concentrated smaller spot size as well.

[@cranktowncity]

I've been messing with this, but god damn are fiber optic cables expensive

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

@@cranktowncity Yeah, i kinda through it would be.. especially thicker one. Maybe aliexpress. You also have some really large aperture multi elemement lenses on those projection TV:s... even though they are plastic lenses i think... might be useful on some of this stuff. A projection tv would be in its entirety kinda a good solar collector.. you have the fresnel collecting light, mirror that directs it and keeps the size smaller and a lens that then forms it into a nice spot.

[@squelchstuff]

Yay! Welcome back. I'm pleased your venture went well, and even more pleased for more madcap projects like this now you're done. A solar furnace might be fun, but the CNC burner could be... Umm, cool too. Whichever way this takes you, I'm sure there'll be lots to learn. (Just like the real KZbinrs now you are one.) 😉

[@pasha5584]

The most amazing thing about this video is that the author can use the Celsius scale :)

[@incolink]

I think a lense focused on one or a few glass vacuum tube water heaters is a worthwhile idea as we all spend a fair bit of money each year heating water

[@seatac9365]

I see you found some use for the "last job materials". 😉

[@dirtdart81]

Glad to see you back! Get those batteries changed and I'll see you back at your madcap experiments :D

[@AJ-bz3vs]

I've always liked the idea of a solar powered (moonshine) still. Yes, I understand the legal.... uh...... restrictions of distilling alcohol, but I think it's a neat-o project..... that somebody (ahem) should do.

[@unusualfabrication9937]

love to see more solar power

[@Lozoot2]

What about using mirrors to redirect the focused point and essentially replace the laser tube of a CO2 laser CNC?

[@nickdarrow4873]

Thank you. I love your channel. You're realistic and down to earth.

[@mikehorrocks2909]

Two things: 1) look up ‘Archimedes Death Ray’ 2) popular mechanics did an article about a water based magnifier where the temperature at the focal point was approximately 1000 degrees. Sadly, I cannot remember what issue it was in.

[@diegopicadidot8948]

That was a metric ton of fun, graphs included. Great craftsmanship too. So much energy concentrated on a hairpin would obliterate almost anything, but how to get there?. Such a challenge... Are solar tubes still a thing?

[@James02876]

I like spreadsheets and graphs.

[@Starche_fpv]

Great video dude! Have you considered using a bunch of fiber optic cables to collect the light and send it to the cnc machine?

[@oplavevski]

+1 for solar aluminum melter. Also, a 3d printer that melts glass using Solar.

[@walkingweapon]

Hey man maybe you could use mirrors to redirect the light from the side lenses so all 3 lenses can be perpendicular to the rays?

[@baraBober]

Here's another idea for the next video. I've recently learned that it is possible to melt stone (basalt), and shape it into tiles, pipes etc. Imagine if our water pipes were made of stone instead of steel! Those things would last for a really long time!

[@johnross3752]

Can yor focus the three lenses into one lens then focus that one?

[@gorak9000]

That directv dish isn't a regular parabola - those dishes are actually 2 parabolas combined together so they can receive 2 (or more) satellites at once.

[@cranktowncity]

I didn't know that, pretty cool!

[@gorak9000]

@@cranktowncity Almost no consumer satellite dish these days is a plain single parabola. They all use more than one satellite, so their dishes are modified parabolas. Commercial or "FTA" dishes are single parabolas still (and a lot bigger)

[@BrandonPoulton]

Martian Glass making robot! This is home homes could be built on Mars!

[@alstaxi2002]

When can we starting popping popcorn with the "solar laser"

[@russneff6316]

Why do you put the sensor, detector, or thermocouple on a heat sink if you are looking for hot? Wouldn't packing in insulation help drive up the temperature?

[@evolutionxone]

Solar powered 3d printer with uv cure resin. Have it extrude some L-channel carbon so you can make a lighter frame. Coat some unidirectional carbon with the resin and draw it through a die and through the light to cure what could go wrong

[@kornwaretm]

how about collecting sun power into a fiber optic cables ?

[@tommydrake5682]

What did you do to your hands - did they wash you? they are so clean - i cant even watch em-

[@sikliztailbunch]

In order to gather light to a spot, a blurry tape is quite a bad idea, since it scatters the light.

[@danielturner4152]

I think a Stirling engine coupled with a stator and you're looking at a generator that requires sun and water

[@0xbaadf00d]

Maybe a graphite crucible would be good for catching the heat, no?

[@sommersetcoker5455]

parabolic collector :D with some fiber to take the power to where it needs to go :D

[@OneEmanation]

You’ve probably figured it out by now!! But you actually have a lot more power than you’re calculating because you aren’t factoring in the rate of heat loss from the heat sink itself (which would be complicated). You would get a more actuate power reading if you used something that would hold the heat more! Like a solid chunk, ideally insulated so that you’re keeping all the energy in to drive the maximum temperature change. Given the power density of the sun and an A4 sized lens, you should get about 1353W/m^2*0.063m^2= 85W assuming a perfect sun conditions, focus and 0 heat loss in your measuring device!!!

[@filfil9902]

Make it heat water into steam and use the steam to generate electricy using turbine

[@B_T_Lightning]

You are definitely onto something, what that something is I don’t know. Create solar battery and have it charged by the “monstrosity”. Build a satellite for space! Ha. Where there is potential there is opportunities!

[@NicksStuff]

Maybe a metal powder sintering machine?

[@youkofoxy]

You just have to add a secondary focusing device. also, can you try "overclocking" a solar panel.

[@sigmawarrior.fokeryou]

Hey, not sure if somebody gave you this sugestion already, but did you ever tought about puting the first normal lens you tested under all that frensel setup, to make a very small spot from all that focused power?

[@sigmawarrior.fokeryou]

Maybe just put your first machine under the frensel focus point and try, maybe it will print so fast you won't even need to adjust the frensel...

[@dangeroustoman]

Can't you use it to create electricity to charge batteries like a solar panel. How much more efficient would that be.

[@jaredharvey1511]

Try melting stuff in a clear vacuum chamber.

[@durandile]

It's always to have a lense that goes to 11, always better than 10

[@kylem5726]

I just realized... How much I've missed your videos.. LOL

[@RkRk-xi7wi]

WB whens the hotglue 3D printer coming? Love your stuff my dude ❤

[@gorak9000]

Basically every FDM printer IS a hotglue 3d printer - just instead of hot glue you use PETG or whatever.

[@RkRk-xi7wi]

@@gorak9000 here we go again. Well aware my dude, I own a 3d printer, don't be that "as a matter of fact" guy. Its annoying. You don't get the bit. Enjoy your day sir.

[@1992jamo]

Haha. God damn I love your videos.

[@TheMachDisk]

Oh also, your power numbers were crazy conservative because your heatsink would have been dissipating way more power outside under wind than it would at it’s rated still air degrees/watt. Also half your light was missing the heatsink. >100W of focused light wouldn’t surprise me at all.

[@Jkauppa]

SiO2 melts something around 1200C :) aluminium even lower, at 600C :)

[@Jkauppa]

or at least glass transition is there, the actual melting point is something like 1700C

[@Jkauppa]

solar = 1000W/m^2

[@Jkauppa]

spray aluminium paint or molten aluminium

[@Jkauppa]

your heat sink is too fast, use a block

[@Jkauppa]

did you calculate the mass of the heat sink block

[@DavidMG99]

👍👍

[@3kikass]

maybe put a normal lens in the spot the fressnell creates zo u get a more concetrated spot

[@reedtassell4847]

I feel like just a block of aluminum would be better than a heat sink so that you aren’t actively getting rid of heat

[@mckryall]

Heatsinks are hard

[@mckryall]

What about a black stone immersed in water? Run either a stir bar or a small pump to keep it mixed, but it would have high enough thermal mass to be consistent

[@dondywondy]

Please, PLEASE, make a sun tracking solar furnace! Or solar cooker. Whatever!

[@daylen577]

Surprised you didn't just spread some hot glue under that space blanket before laying it on, then you could've used some heat to re-liquify the glue and pull it all perfectly straight

[@gutrali]

I like your test but using a heat sink to hold the thermocouple was probably not the best idea. The heat sink is constantly working to dissipate all the heat back into the air! You could have just ground off all the fins of that heat sink, drilled a shallow hole, and used thermally conductive epoxy to secure the sensor in. Cover the back in a thick piece of foam board and you would certainly see much closer results. Either way, I would agree with the annoyance of having to rerun the tests hahahaa. MAybe just do a measurement like this on your final form to see how much they differ.

[@JohnJaggerJack]

You're not bad at this, you're just getting started. Go watch some of TOT first videos, he wasn't that much better "at this" than you are at this point. And about he job, dont worry man, some of us understand that YT revenue is as consistent as your uploading schedule ;)

[@gorak9000]

I feel like TOT's day job is a video producer or writer or something - some of those videos he made were pretty impressive in their production quality and effects and lighting and stuff, and you can tell he puts a lot of work into planning the videos, on top of whatever he's actually showing in the videos - not to mention sneaking the "subscribe" in all sorts of weird places

[@smellycat249]

Explosives captivate us. Not graph’s. Thanks

[@mckryall]

Fuck off I want graphs

[@3MrP3]

Your approach for estimating the wattage is most likely flawed. I'm assuming the factor 42.66 is supposed to be the product of the isobaric specific heat of aluminium (897 J/(kg K)) and the mass of the heatsink. This would mean that the heatsink only weighs 47.6g for the math to work out, which I'm unsure if it is correct. Even with the correct mass I can't imagine this setup gives you any decent accuracy. I'd personally try heating a tank/cup of water with the thermocouple in it while it is also being stirred. That way you have a better chance of uniformly heating the object, making the estimation of the input power better. Nevertheless a fun video!

[@prozacgod]

Um, you were looking for mirrors and it occured to me... don't the rear projection tvs have mirrors in them... And then I thought, "well yeah they were in there, but I have a suspicion he didn't treat them well, and was embarassed and didn't show them on screen...." And then they show up.... Look, lol you have a certain mode about you... don't blame me for thinking that. PS - Those mirrors work great for periscopes and I feel like youre the kinda guy who could appreciate periscopes.

[@zachsmith6928]

Make a solar steam engine.

[@among-us-99999]

A Heat sink is removing heat. You shouldn’t measure time, you should measure the equilibrium temperature it reaches use a solid metal block instead of a heat sink if you want to measure time

[@k.bellingham8335]

Glad yer back for sure! There's a thing called arectenna, er a rectenna. Don't blame me for the shi#y name, Second worst name of a thing ever, worst is the planet Uranus, either the guy really liked the planet or really hated the planet.. whatever. Capturing solar energy has been a quest for centuries. Someone along the way invented a thing called arectenna, I mean a rectenna. Apparently these things can be very very efficient, liek.. like 100%! Cause too many other channels burn shit up with their "experiments", you could actually do something constructive... again, like you do... better than most in my opinion and way more interesting. Carry on, I think you might have been heading there anyway.

[@RPrice_OG]

I can't believe you didn't cook a hotdog with it. Just sayin'. :D

[@Pest789]

*Ask not what your country can do for your dinger, but what your dinger can do for your country.*

[@richardllevat5032]

Hi dude, i love your prank-science cool experiments, you should build a steam engine and plug it to an electric generator to see how much you can get, who knows? You may even be able to reduce your power consumption and get back some money out of it while help the environment and get some more subscribers and likes 😉, the way i see it is all win and nothing to lose, by the way forgive my awful language as im from Cuba living in Russia my english is not what it use to be.

[@tobiasstaermose]

Not enough graphs... 😅

[@williamhuang8309]

optical fibre

[@mackdaddy.7610]

I wanna see