Stirling engine

Invented in 1815 by Robert Stirling, the Stirling engine initially used ambient air, subjected to the standard thermodynamic cycle (compression, heating, expansion, cooling). It aimed to provide a safer alternative to the steam engines of the time, whose boilers frequently exploded. Several different versions of the Stirling version are available today, using various gases (in particular hydrogen and helium) and are used outside the solar power sector, in highly-specific applications (military equipment, space, research).