I have been asked to draw up a plan for a farm on Savanna land in tropical Africa. The land is extensive and I even wonder about a biodiesel crop but it is too soon to think that such generation will be optimal for the land. Years ago I had a neighbour in Spain who said that with his solar hot water heating he often got dangerous steam coming out of the shower. This makes me think that if I laid some pipes on a gentle slope and then painted it black, in no time at all I might have a power house going. I suppose ideally the pipes would be set in a good black heat conductor such as a metal. It certainly would be a fraction of thge cost of solar panels but how could the energy by stored or for that matter electricity be made efficiently? There is plenty of water on this land.
Clearly I am not an engineer and I know that little is as simple as it seems but with a situation which needs exploiting, I hope I am in the right place. Any pointer or notions will be appreciated.
Put another way how should I efficiently collect the tropical sun's energy. I think that if I know the method, I will be able to work out the scale.
