Solar Dryer concept sketch

After seeing Miele's horrifically complex design (link in previous post) I thought I would put a sketch together. Time to build a proof of concept now I have the rough layout in mind.

The heat comes either as waste from our outdoor gas blower (Brivis Buffalo) or the solar reflector underneath the tumbler unit.
Motion comes from a sub-10watt motor mounted on one of the four jockey wheels (shown in yellow). It could be conventionally powered or solar - as it's power is tiny.
Airflow comes from either a solar fan or a solar chimney (cold air is drawn up and heated, so rises and pulls through).

Moisture could be condensed and captured.

I might need a heat exchanger if the waste gas smells of CNG.

I like the idea of a square tumbler to give churning to the clothes, and is removable as a washing basket.
Ergonomics need thinking thru, as do pinch points...

Hope it makes sense.

What an interesting device - the self powered (wood stove) ecofan

A thermoelectric generator runs a fan that sheds the heat the unit pulls up from the base, via fins.

http://navitron.org.uk/product_detail.php?proID=265&catID=67

Solar concentrator - parabolic trough

I have been thinking about taking a cheap 10 to 20w solar panel and directing a lot more light to it via a parabolic trough. People seem to be doing this using simple convective liquid cooling and upping the amount of light by a factor of 5 to 10. Here is a company doing it commercially link It's an extreme example - there is a smaller domestic application to be had.

Or flipping the original idea around, it could be that the main purpose of the device is to pump heat via a liquid - using a small integrated solar panel. An easy unit to relocate if cooling is built in too.

I like the idea of a trough over a dish, as is it will track the sun fairly well during the day, and just need monthly angular adjustments of inclination.

I don't want a point focus like a normal parabola, so by using chunky segments on the reflector (could be cheaper to make) I can spread the reflected light over the surface of the panel.

I did some experimenting in Google Sketchup with reflective angles versus the width of each segment on the parabola and came up with the following diagram:

It looks like the rule of thumb is to make the higher ribs about half the width of the solar panel, but lower down it becomes less important, so the same width is ok. There is a portion directly below the panel that will be shadowed.

Here's my concept:

Solar concentrator - linear reflector

This would be very easy to do - place a cheap reflective surface below fixed panels.

The incidental sun hitting the cheap reflector would direct extra energy to the panel. Extra light would be gained in the morning/afternoon as well, due to reflection of angular light.
Extra light can cause extra heat/inefficiency, or even damage, so the amount would need to be tested.

Some folks online seem to be directing up to 5 or 10 times the light without damage.
Interesting.