SolarHeart Engines Overview

Cool Energy 20kWe Product Development Overview:

Cool Energy has developed an innovative and novel Stirling engine, called
the SolarHeart Engine, which converts low temperature heat energy
into electricity. The SolarHeart Engine differs from other Stirling engines
because it can use lower temperatures for its heat input (100C to 300C)
than typical heat engines. Other currently commercially available Stirling
engines use heat input temperatures in the 600C to 1000C range.
Harnessing heat from this lower and previously untapped temperature
range opens an entire new set of renewable and alternative applications
for power generation that were not previously economical. The output
power ranges (3kWe and 20 kWe currently) for the SolarHeart Engine
enable new classes of distributed renewable power systems in
applications such as waste heat recovery, solar thermal electric, and
biomass power. After successfully building, testing, and shipping 3kW engines to prove out the technical
approach to low-temperature power conversion, the next step is to extend the generating capacity up to
20kWe per engine, both increasing capacity and reducing the cost per Watt. Conceptual designs have been
in progress since Q3 of 2012, and parts procurement for the first prototypes is currently in progress after the
final selection of the 20kW engine geometry. The first 20 kWe engine is anticipated to be operational in mid2014, with first commercial availability in late 2014.

The SolarHeart Engine its applications and contributions to our energy needs:
The primary market application for the SolarHeart engine, due to its rapid payback time, is the recovery of
wasted and exhaust heat to produce electricity. Application environments include commercial and
industrial facilities, remote and military generators, and ship engines, which can all benefit from using the
SolarHeart Engine for electricity production. Aside from providing cost savings and reducing emissions from
using less fuel and power, other advantages of the SolarHeart Engine include reducing the need to transport
fuel to remote and military locations, a process that is often expensive and logistically difficult (and for the
military, very dangerous). Among the additional applications for the SolarHeart Engine are the use of solar
thermal, biomass, and geothermal sources for heating and powering homes and buildings.
Development of the SolarHeart Engine began in 2006, and has been supported in part through grant awards
from the US National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection
Agency as well as contracts from the Dept. of Energy and Colorado Governors Energy Office. Cool Energy has
developed historically novel Stirling engines composed of high-surface-area heat exchangers, non-metallic
self-lubricating piston/cylinder sets, and non-metallic regenerators. The design approach employed by Cool
Energy has emphasized reduced cost and high reliability to minimize the total cost of ownership and hence
the cost of the energy produced. Designed initially for operations at lower temperatures and moderate
conversion efficiencies (10% to 25%) for waste heat recovery, conceptual designs have been generated to
extended to higher temperatures in order to increase efficiency for use with natural gas combustion. The
third generation low-temperature prototype produced 2 kWe at 16.5% thermal-to-electric conversion
efficiency when operating at 215 C hot side and 15 C cold side temperatures. The fourth-generation
prototype pictured has demonstrated an output of 3.1 kWe at 300 C input temperature and 20 C rejection
Cool Energy, Inc. 5541 Central Ave, #172 Boulder, CO 80301 tel (303) 4422121 fax (303) 4420820
www.coolenergyinc.com
Page 1 of 7

temperature with conversion efficiencies of over 22%. Two of the fourth-generation prototype have been
sold to potential market partners and delivered in 2011, with additional units being fabricated currently.

Waste Heat Recovery applications for SolarHeart Engines1

The SolarHeart Engine can be used to recover low grade waste heat that has previously been
uneconomical to recover, and boost operational efficiency of a power generator or process:
The SolarHeart Engine can be used with any heat source in the engines optimal input temperature range of
100-300 C. Whereas cost-effective waste heat recovery solutions at higher temperatures (over 500 C)
already exist, the SolarHeart Engine offers a solution for low grade waste heat recovery from commercial
and industrial processes, from remote and military generators, and from supplemental and backup gensets.
This approach increases the efficiency of operations and reduces fuel consumption.

Figure 1) Axial-drive 20 kWe Stirling engine shown in notional waste heat recovery application. The source of
hot gas flowing through the engine heat exchanger could be a reciprocating engine exhaust stream, or waste
from an industrial process or pollution control equipment.
The SolarHeart Engine boosts the fuel efficiency of a diesel generator when recovering its waste heat:
The SolarHeart Engine can boost the output of a diesel genset by 5% to 10% when recovering the waste heat
the generator exhausts. In remote and military settings where fully burdened diesel fuel can cost up to
$15/gal including transport costs, the payback period for the engine can be under one year. The reduced
requirement for transport of fuel is a highly valuable benefit to the military, as a significant fraction of
modern war-fighting casualties occur during resupply missions of water and fuel.

Certain information about waste heat recovery presented in this section has been acquired from the website of the U.S. Department of
Energy Intermountain Clean Energy Application Center Waste Heat Recovery
1

Cool Energy, Inc. 5541 Central Ave, #172 Boulder, CO 80301 tel (303) 4422121 fax (303) 4420820
www.coolenergyinc.com
Page 2 of 7

An illustration of the SolarHeart Engine configured to capture waste heat from a genset is included below.

Fig 2) SolarHeart Engine configured to recover waste heat

The SolarHeart Engine is efficient, simple in its operation and designed for high reliability
Low to medium temperature (100 C to 300 C) Stirling engines are attractive devices for converting lowergrade heat into mechanical or electrical power. Cool Energy has developed and demonstrated the novel
SolarHeart Engine operating at temperatures in this range with 3 kWe electrical output power, and has
developed designs for producing up to 40 kWe. This type of Stirling engine has several attributes that make
it attractive as a bottoming cycle in waste heat recovery applications, including having a maximum
theoretical thermal efficiency closer to the theoretical limit than other cycles. Operation below typical
combustion temperatures (500 C - 1000 C) enables materials to be used in the engine components that
minimize thermal losses and reduce weight and cost relative to typical engines operating at high
temperatures. Advantages the Stirling engine has over organic Rankine cycle machines include excellent
part load performance, a wide operating temperature range not constrained by temperature restrictions of
the working fluid, and high performance at both constant and variable rates of waste heat production.
The SolarHeart Engine is quiet:
Because the SolarHeart Engine operates at a low speed (approximately 600 rpm), has no internal
combustion or explosions and is fully balanced, the engine is extremely quiet and low in vibration. The
metal housing adds acoustic and thermal insulation.
Reliability of the SolarHeart Engine:
The SolarHeart Engine is designed for a 20,000 hour service interval 3 years at 80% operating time. The
anticipated lifetime of the engine is over 100,000 operating hours. There is no internal lubrication required
as all bearings are sealed and the moving seals are self-lubricating. Two 3kW units are being evaluated for
reliability on a continuous-operation test stand. One runs continuously, while the other is torn down and
the key components are measured to determine wear rate and estimate component lifetime. One engine
has 5000 hour of run-time (180,000,000 revolutions), while the other has 2800 hours of run-time. Ring life is
expected to be the factor which determines the required service interval.
Cool Energy, Inc. 5541 Central Ave, #172 Boulder, CO 80301 tel (303) 4422121 fax (303) 4420820
www.coolenergyinc.com
Page 3 of 7

Fig 3) 3 kWe SolarHeart Engine boosting genset output by 5% to 7%.

Other Useful Information about Cool Energy and the SolarHeart Engine
More about Stirling engines:
Cool Energy has developed the SolarHeart Engine which is a heat engine based on the Stirling cycle
(invented in the early 1800s by Robert Stirling) and for which no internal combustion is required. The
Stirling engine is a heat engine that operates by expansion and compression of air or other gas (called the
working fluid), at different temperature levels such that there is a net conversion of heat energy to
mechanical work. The SolarHeart Engine uses air as the working fluid, and is driven by relatively low
temperatures (100 C-300 C). The mechanical work generated drives a generator built inside the engine
that creates electrical power.
About Cool Energy, Inc.:
Cool Energy is a privately held corporation, based in Boulder, Colorado.
To date, Cool Energy has been backed primarily by angel and venture capital investment and has received
several SBIR grants from the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well
as a Department of Energy subcontract and a Colorado Governors Energy Office grant. Cool Energy is
currently raising its Series B round of capital for the purposes of beginning volume manufacturing.
For more information about the company, please contact Sam Weaver, CEO at
spweaver@coolenergyinc.com or 303-442-2121.

Cool Energy, Inc. 5541 Central Ave, #172 Boulder, CO 80301 tel (303) 4422121 fax (303) 4420820
www.coolenergyinc.com
Page 4 of 7

20 kWe SolarHeart Engine preliminary specifications:

Operating speed: 600 RPM
Engine weight: 5500 lbs
Engine dimensions: 44 dia. x 90 tall
Lifetime: 100,000 hours, with service interval every 20,000 hours
Operating Ambient Temperatures: -40 C to 80 C
Output Voltage: up to 500V-dc
Operating parameters: see table below

Hot Side Inlet

Temp, C

Oil Flow
Rate, L/min

Hot Side
Outlet
Temp, C

100
100
100
100
150
150
150
150
200
200
200
200
250
250
250

200
300
450
675
200
300
450
675
200
300
450
675
200
300
450

92
95
96
98
141
144
146
147
191
194
196
197
241
244
246

Input Heat
Rate
Required, W

Rejection
Heat Rate
Required, W

50493
50610
50671
50662
55364
55465
55518
55507
59550
59640
59672
59661
63226
63309
63352

48999
48912
48853
48806
48774
48698
48646
48605
48597
48532
48475
48440
48503
48449
48411

Net Electrical
Output Power, W
1414
1605
1712
1721
6255
6421
6513
6518
10401
10546
10624
10624
13982
14110
14180

Thermal to
Electrical
Conversion
Efficiency
2.8%
3.2%
3.4%
3.4%
11.3%
11.6%
11.7%
11.7%
17.5%
17.7%
17.8%
17.8%
22.1%
22.3%
22.4%

Cool Energy, Inc. 5541 Central Ave, #172 Boulder, CO 80301 tel (303) 4422121 fax (303) 4420820
www.coolenergyinc.com
Page 5 of 7

250
300
300
300
300

675
200
300
450
675

247
290
294
296
297

63340
66539
66616
66656
79418

48381
48512
48466
48433
58321

14177
17121
17237
17299
20010

22.4%
25.7%
25.9%
26.0%
25.2%

3kW SolarHeart Engine preliminary specifications:

Operating speed: 200-600 RPM
Engine weight: 2000 lbs
Engine dimensions: 36 dia. x 44 long
Lifetime: 70,000 hours with no maintenance
Operating Ambient Temperatures: -40C to 80C
Output Voltage: up to 500V-dc
Operating parameters: see table below
Hot Side
Input
Temp
(C)
100 C
100 C
100 C
100 C
150 C
150 C
150 C
150 C
200 C
200 C
200 C
200 C
250 C
250 C
250 C
250 C
300 C
300 C
300 C
300 C

Oil Flow
Rate
(liters/min)

Hot Side
Outlet
Temp
(C)

Input Heat
Rate
Required (W)

Rejection
Heat Rate
Required
(W)

Electrical
Output
Power
(W-dc)

Thermal to
Electrical
Conversion
Efficiency (%)

40

91

9085

8419

579

6.4%

75

96

9105

8412

639

7.0%

110

97

9077

8444

658

7.2%

150

98

9023

8501

667

7.3%

40

141
145
147
148

9959
9990
9985
9963

8451
8441
8464
8508

1288

12.9%
13.4%
13.6%
13.7%

190
195
197
198

10722
10757
10757
10744

8480
8472
8493
8533

1911

240
245
247
248

11403
11438
11441
11431

8512
8506
8527
8567

2462

290
295
297
298

12022
12055
12058
12050

8551
8548
8570
8609

2954

75
110
150
40
75
110
150
40
75
110
150
40
75
110
150

1345
1362
1370
1965
1981
1989
2512
2527
2534
3000
3014
3020

17.8%
18.3%
18.4%
18.4%
21.6%
22.0%
22.1%
22.1%
24.6%
24.9%
25.0%
25.0%

Operating Parameters for Cool Energy SolarHeart Engine with a 20C rejection environment.

Cool Energy, Inc. 5541 Central Ave, #172 Boulder, CO 80301 tel (303) 4422121 fax (303) 4420820
www.coolenergyinc.com
Page 6 of 7

The dimensions, drawings, typical illustrations, weights, materials, and details of construction included
herein, while representing the best information available at the time of the issuance of this Proposal, may
vary from that set forth during the development of the final design under terms of contract. Such drawings
as are included in this Proposal are intended only to illustrate the arrangement of equipment and are not to
be construed as defining the extent and scope of the material Cool Energy proposes to furnish.
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, without the express written permission of Cool Energy, Inc.
While Cool Energy, Inc. endeavors to ensure that the information in this document is correct and fairly stated,
Cool Energy makes no representation or warranty of any kind in this document and shall in no case be liable
for any errors or omissions or damages, regardless of legal theory, for any use or reliance upon this
information.
Due to continuous product improvement, information is subject to change without notice.
2014 Cool Energy, Inc. Cool Energy and SolarHeart are registered trademarks of Cool Energy, Inc. All other
marks are the property of their respective owners.

Cool Energy, Inc. 5541 Central Ave, #172 Boulder, CO 80301 tel (303) 4422121 fax (303) 4420820
www.coolenergyinc.com
Page 7 of 7