Plumbing Up Mother’s Solar Steam Generator

1 / 7
The assembled solar steam generator. Note the boiler unit mounted at the end of the boom arm.
The assembled solar steam generator. Note the boiler unit mounted at the end of the boom arm.
2 / 7
The MOTHER EARTH NEWS bender tool.
The MOTHER EARTH NEWS bender tool.
3 / 7
Inlet and outlet fittings must be properly equipped with control valves.
Inlet and outlet fittings must be properly equipped with control valves.
4 / 7
Another view of the completed solar steam generator.
Another view of the completed solar steam generator.
5 / 7
 Don't forget to fasten your phototransistor switch housing!
 Don't forget to fasten your phototransistor switch housing!
6 / 7
The sunrise and sunset switches are important in keeping your solar furnace properly in sync with the position of the sun.
The sunrise and sunset switches are important in keeping your solar furnace properly in sync with the position of the sun.
7 / 7
Steam from the solar steam generator can drive an electrical generator.
Steam from the solar steam generator can drive an electrical generator.

Previous articles from MOTHER EARTH NEWS showed you how to build a low-cost solar furnace frame and a sophisticated tracking system. Now it’s time to combine those components with a boiler and put them to work in our solar steam generator!

We previously featured a solar furnace designed and built by a fellow named Charles Curnutt out in Twenty-nine Palms, California. It seems that Mr. Curnutt had not only come up with an apparatus that captured the sun’s energy and made it work for him, but he had done so for a total investment of only several hundred dollars. This meant that, for the first time, energy self-sufficiency was available on the “little guy’s” level and that a small backyard — or even a rooftop — would provide enough space to house a genuine home powerplant!

Then — as if just inventing the furnace hadn’t been enough—Charles granted MOTHER EARTH NEWS permission to copy and modify his design and make it available to her entire readership, which is exactly what we’ve been doing. Now we’ll get on with the next phase after the solar furnace frame and the tracking system: plumbing the furnace so it can be used to generate steam!

How It Works 

A steam generator is — in effect — a “simple” boiler. Ours is mounted inside an insulated box and installed on a boom made of pipe about 10 feet above the mirror frame. Refer to the Steam Generator and Boom Detail diagram. Each of the one hundred 12-inch-by-12-inch glass reflectors is then aimed directly at the boiler, creating a total reflective surface area of 100 square feet. Enough (when concentrated on the 18-inch-by-18-inch target) to create temperatures within the insulated boiler housing in excess of 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit!

  • Published on May 1, 1979
Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368