Receive FREE Solar Energy
Estimates

Alternative Energy

Solar Blogs

Topics

Tiny Solar Engine Fits into Wine Glass

What is neither red nor white but still at home in a wine glass? The answer to that strange riddle lies in the hands and unfathomable patience of one Szymon Klimek, craftsman of tiny model engines. Better yet, one of these micro-engines can actually run on solar power.

solar power engine

Klimek starts with paper-thin sheets of brass. He cuts out the parts he needs, then shapes and glues them by hand. The result is tiny, shiny, intricate and even functional models of antique cars, bicycles, ships and more. All are small enough to fit into a wine glass. Truly amazing is his minuscule Beam Machine, which uses a tiny solar panel to energize its gears.

The diminutive gadget is in essence a brass model beam engine, a design best illustrated by the Watt steam engine (after James Watt). While Watt did not invent the beam engine, he greatly improved its efficiency and his designs were used widely in 18th century England. Fittingly, Klimek has added watt-producing solar power to his scaled-down version.

solar power car

Klimek has won awards for his intricate designs, and up to this point, has completed more than 100 painstakingly crafted models. It would appear from a video of the solar beam engine in action that Klimek designed and built the solar panel himself: a polycrystalline silicon solar cell on a brass substrate with a wine glass for glazing.

Via dvice

Photos: edrobiazg

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks