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Last edited: 30 November 2025
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The Vapor Motive Company is a designer and fabricator of parabolic trough solar collectors for a number of different applications, including cooking with pressurized steam. Founded by Matt Janssen, the company is located in Sandpoint, Idaho, USA. Their services can include the transfer of basic skills, instructions, procedures, design specifications, and proprietary knowledge.
For the collector shown below, steam is produced by water running in a pipe in front of the solar trough collector, which enters the steam jacket of the kettle. There is an an earlier version array at Solar Spirits Distillery in Richland, Washington which is circulating heat transfer fluid (thermal oil) to the jackets of still kettles.
'This is my latest solar through which is mechanically and geometrically similar to the Shuman-Boys trough, but uses commercial greenhouse materials with twin-wall polycarbonate panels elastically bent so it can ship flat and be assembled on site. The target market would be to drive steam jacketed kettles in rural South African schools as well as other institutional applications. I'm running direct steam spillover cycle and one clean trough in great sun can steam and boil the contents of an insulated 5 gallon kettle.' - Matt Janssen
Vapor Motive Company parabolic trough solar collector, Photo credit: Vapor Motive Co.
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Vapor Motive Company
Sandpoint, Idaho
USA
Email: inquiry@vapormotiveco.com