Resumen: This paper presents a thermal model for a dish Stirling cavity based on the finite differences method. This model is a theoretical tool to optimize the cavity in terms of thermal efficiency. One of the main outcomes of this work is the evaluation of radiative exchange using the radiosity method; for that purpose, the view factors of all surfaces involved have been accurately calculated. Moreover, this model enables the variation of the cavity and receiver dimensions and the materials to determine the optimal cavity design. The tool has been used to study the cavity optimization regarding geometry parameters and material properties. Receiver absorptivity has been identified as the most influential property of the materials. The optimal aperture height depends on the minimum focal space. Idioma: Inglés DOI: 10.3390/en8021042 Año: 2015 Publicado en: Energies 8, 2 (2015), 1043-1057 ISSN: 1996-1073 Factor impacto JCR: 2.077 (2015) Categ. JCR: ENERGY & FUELS rank: 43 / 88 = 0.489 (2015) - Q2 - T2 Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.785 - Energy (miscellaneous) (Q1) - Energy Engineering and Power Technology (Q1) - Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Q1) - Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment (Q2) - Control and Optimization (Q2)