1964
William Beale invents the free-piston Stirling engine
'64
1971
Free-Piston Stirling Engine patent 3,552,120 awarded
'71
1974
Sunpower incorporated
'74
1978
RE-1000, the first mature free-piston Stirling engine, delivered
'78
1980 To Present
Design, development and testing of machines from 35W to 7.5kW, and proven operation on numerous heat sources including solar, gaseous and liquid fossil fuels, biomass and heat pipes
'80 To Present
1985
First demonstration of a tuned dynamic vibration absorber
'85
1987
Demonstration of stand-alone diesel fueled free-piston Stirling engine generator to the US Army, first use of a heat pipe heater head
'87
1988
Demonstration of high-frequency engine operation (115Hz)
'88
1989
Demonstration of balanced opposed configuration engine arrangement
'89
1989 To 1994
First successful application of solar powered free-piston Stirling engine (development Units run through 1994)
'89 To '94
1999
Sunpower creates cryocooler manufacturing operation
'99
2001
Licensee completed field trial for first free-piston Stirling engine-based household cogeneration appliance
'01
2002
M77 cryocooler launched on the 2002 RHESSI mission
'02
2003
Receipt of NASA funded program to develop next generation Advanced Stirling Convertor (ASC)
Free-piston linear compressor technology available in household refrigerators
2003 To 2005
Demonstration of and improvement on highest efficiency, and highest power per unit mass of small free-piston Stirling engine achieved to date
'03 To '05
2003 To 2010
Developed Engines for long range satellites and space exploration
'03 To '10
2004
Demonstration of dual opposed, low vibration free-piston Stirling engine configuration at Space Technology and Applications International Forum
Free-piston Stirling cooler technology commercially available
2005
Demonstration of 20% efficiency of JP-8 to electric power out in a prototype Wearable Power supply for the US Department of Defense (DoD)
'05
2009
Completion of integration and demonstration to the US Army of a free-piston Stirling engine based, soldier portable, JP-8 fueled generator
'09
2010
Stirling engine-based household cogeneration appliance commercially available
Transitioned from development of Engines for space flight to manufacturing Stirling engines for space flight
2011
Expanded capabilities and throughput with a move to a new state-of-the-art facility
'11
2012
The first successful run of the ASC-E3 Stirling Convertor
'12