Proposals for New Types of Solar Heat-Engine Systems

Solar-driven generators which have closed cycles are proposed. The cycles consist of isentropic and two isobaric processes. Two types of the cycle engines are designed based on the concept. The cycle performance is calculated for normal and improved cases with the theoretical background. From the results, the improved closed cycle promises a high performance for the solar application. Actual engines are currently designed to achieve the 20% system efficiency.