solar thoughts

[honorablepassion]

kinda not a tech, & wanting thoughts from a science geek
1. whats the largest parabolic lens that could be made with water/ice
2. is it possible to condense light from a large mass of mylar mirrors, into something like a single beam of light/aiming the light over long distances?

kinda playing with the idea of a giant ice/water with some other other liquid at the center? (as i think the heat might vaporize water near the point?) parabolic lens with a pool of water for a sterling engine or just condensing it into a beam.

any thoughts? halfbakery may be better for this, but i figured you guys might have a better understanding of light refraction.

 

[electron]

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[Cyparagon]

That would be very heavy, and very difficult to construct and maintain. I recommend a large Fresnel lens instead.

 

[honorablepassion]

a giant parabolic lens would be heavy; i'm imagining keeping it on the ground, with just the center without alot of support; maybe some type of glass? & a hole/possibly a mirror trough underground. kinda reading up on turning incoherent light into laser stuff; anyone have a guess on the costs involved?
couple links i found interesting. Very Efficient Ceramic Sunlight-to-Laser System Unveiled in Uzbekistan | The Green Optimistic

Is it possible to condense a regular light source into a collimated laser beam?

 

[Cyparagon]

I didn't read the whole thread, but I think you've misunderstood the basic idea of your link. See, they take the sun's energy and optically pump a laser. They use a lasing medium - not optics only. I suspect any "beam" you get from manipulating the sun directly with optics is going to diverge rapidly - like the beam from a flashlight.

 

[honorablepassion]

looking for anything towards turning sunlight into something like a beam, or adding power to an existing beam. thinking convenient power for awesome diy projects on scale.