Incinerators

[shankar1988]

Will it be possible to burn rubbish in incinerators by using solar energy either by concentrating it onto one spot or by using solar panels. If yes how effective will it be??

[jake-the-peg]

(Excuse the imperial units in the following)

I think incinerators run at about 1600 degrees F.

A small electric furnace reaching that temperature (5"x6"x4") is about 1,500 Watts thats about 20 square feet roughly the maximum what you'd get from a solar panel in the UK

I think the costs are also about $10 per watt!

So I think the answer is that it's pretty impractical on any significant scale.

It's also not the sort of thing that you want cooling down when the sun goes behing a cloud as burning rubbish at low temperatures can cause the creation of all sorts of nasties and dioxins.

[Loosehead]

You do not need to be "excused" Jake.