IX Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2017

The sun is the closest star to Earth. Even at a distance of 150 million kilometers, its gravitational pull holds the planet in orbit. It radiates light and heat, or solar energy, which makes it possible for life to exist on Earth. Plants need sunlight to grow. Animals, including humans, need plants for food and the oxygen they produce. Without heat from the sun, Earth would freeze. There would be no winds, ocean currents, or clouds to transport water. Solar energy has existed as long as the sun—about 5 billion years.

People have been using solar energy in a variety of ways for thousands of years.We started out concentrating the sun’s heat with glass and mirrors to light fires. Greeks and Romans use burning mirrors to light torches for religious purposes. Archimedes used solar-powered burning lenses to ignite a fleet of Roman ships. “Visby” lenses made of ground rock crystal were used by the Vikings, similar technology was used by the Celts and even the ancient Egyptians.Today, we have everything from solar-powered buildings to solar-powered vehicles.

The ancient Greek / Latin term “heliocaminus” literally means "solar furnace" and refers to a glass-enclosed sunroom intentionally designed to become hotter than the outside air temperature.The principles behind a modern solar furnace hasn’t changed much from these sun rooms and “burning lenses.” A solar furnace is a structure that uses concentrated solar power to produce high temperatures, used for industrial purposes. This is done with a curved mirror (or an array of mirrors) that acts as a parabolic reflector (device used to collect or project energy such as light, sound, or radio waves), concentrating light onto a focal point. The temperature at the focal point may reach 3,500 °C, and this heat can be used to generate electricity, melt steel, and make hydrogen fuel or nanomaterials. Concentrated solar powers (CSP) are systems that use lenses or mirrors to concentrate a large area of sunlight, or solar thermal energy, onto a small area.The solar furnace advantages are quite evident.

• Temperatures above 3,500 °C can be obtained in a few seconds.

• The energy is "free", and non-polluting.

• A furnace provides rapid temperature changes and therefore allows studying the effect of thermal shocks;

• There are no contaminating element (combustion gas, pollution, waste, etc.)

• The heating can be done in a controlled atmosphere (the vacuum of space, the upper atmosphere of Mars, etc.)

The Odeillo solar furnace is the largest solar furnace in the world. It is situated in Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, in the department of Pyrénées-Orientales, in south of France. The site was chosen for two reasons:

• the length and the quality of sunshine with direct light (more than 2,500 h/year);

• the purity of its atmosphere (high altitude and low average humidity).

Built by engineer Felix Trombe and opened in 1970, this unique structure is 54 m high and 48 m large. It includes 63 heliostats and has a power of one megawatt.

The operation principle of a solar furnace is quite simple. The sun’s energy is reflected on a series of mirrors and concentrated on one very small point to create extremely high temperatures. It is still used by space agencies like NASA and ESA, scientists, and technology companies to research the effects of extremely high temperatures on certain materials for nuclear reactors and space vehicle reentry, and to produce hydrogen and nanoparticles.

This giant solar furnace concentrates the heat of the sun into a 3,000-degree Celsius beam that can fire ceramics without fuel.

It can direct 50 kilowatts of solar energy into a single point in strong sunlight, heating a few square centimeters to a degree that can melt steel.

The research areas are also extended to the aviation and aerospace industries. Experiments can be there in conditions of high chemical purity.

The Odeillo Solar Furnace is not only a strategically important object possessing many valuable characteristics, but it is also an amazing structure having a peculiar design. This weird and wonderful building in the French Pyrenees attracts tourists from all over the world. It’s used for educational purposes and open to tours. Surely, it is one of the most impressive sites in Europe demonstrating the power of the Sun.

The sun is the source of nearly all energy on earth. The solar furnace is one of the most majestic applications of solar thermal energy.The sun offers free and clean energy in abundance. In fact, it gives much more energy than we can ever possibly use. The only questions are how and when we will take full advantage of it.

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