Power of 5,000 Suns Teen Builds Solar Death-ray

Actually, there's tons of videos on Youtube for parabolic solar dishes. And the kid isn't getting "5000 suns" from his dish. Technically, 5000 suns would be equal to 5000 X the power of the sun on a given area.

If you want your own, just find a used satellite dish on Craigslist and wrap it in foil or mylar, either are much easier than cutting and pasting 100's of tiny mirrors.

Another thing you can use is a "fresnel" lens. These were invented for light houses, but old big screen TVs use them too.




Here's a fresnel lens melting a lock:


Both parabolic mirrors and fresnel lenses are capable of melting lead. And you can point both on a stirling engine or steam engine connected to a generator to produce electricity.

Here's an example of a parabolic mirror used with a stirling engine, which is the most efficient way to convert solar energy to electricity:



This stuff is actually my pet project right now...I'm trying to find the best way to desalinate water using parabolic dishes. Many of the World's poorest people live near both the equator and sea water. I'm trying to develope the cheapest and easiest ways to use the sun to create safe drinking water from the oceans.

It just makes a parabolic mirror focussed where the LNB is normally.
Been a damn sight more efficient if he had just got the dish bright
nickel plated like auto fenders/bumpers.

The temperatures achieved depend mainly on the area of the dish,
the degree of focussing and probably whether its day or night