WO2010101468A1 - Dispositif à multiples éléments - Google Patents

Dispositif à multiples éléments Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2010101468A1
WO2010101468A1 PCT/NO2009/000072 NO2009000072W WO2010101468A1 WO 2010101468 A1 WO2010101468 A1 WO 2010101468A1 NO 2009000072 W NO2009000072 W NO 2009000072W WO 2010101468 A1 WO2010101468 A1 WO 2010101468A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
array according
element pointing
light
elements
pointing array
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
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PCT/NO2009/000072
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English (en)
Inventor
Hans Gude Gudesen
Per-Erik Nordal
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Individual
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Individual
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Priority to PCT/NO2009/000072 priority Critical patent/WO2010101468A1/fr
Publication of WO2010101468A1 publication Critical patent/WO2010101468A1/fr
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Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F21—LIGHTING
    • F21S—NON-PORTABLE LIGHTING DEVICES; SYSTEMS THEREOF; VEHICLE LIGHTING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLE EXTERIORS
    • F21S11/00—Non-electric lighting devices or systems using daylight
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24S—SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS; SOLAR HEAT SYSTEMS
    • F24S30/00—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules
    • F24S30/40—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules for rotary movement
    • F24S30/45—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules for rotary movement with two rotation axes
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24S—SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS; SOLAR HEAT SYSTEMS
    • F24S30/00—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules
    • F24S30/40—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules for rotary movement
    • F24S30/48—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules for rotary movement with three or more rotation axes or with multiple degrees of freedom
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H10F—INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
    • H10F77/00—Constructional details of devices covered by this subclass
    • H10F77/40—Optical elements or arrangements
    • H10F77/42—Optical elements or arrangements directly associated or integrated with photovoltaic cells, e.g. light-reflecting means or light-concentrating means
    • H10F77/45—Wavelength conversion means, e.g. by using luminescent material, fluorescent concentrators or up-conversion arrangements
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24S—SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS; SOLAR HEAT SYSTEMS
    • F24S23/00—Arrangements for concentrating solar-rays for solar heat collectors
    • F24S23/70—Arrangements for concentrating solar-rays for solar heat collectors with reflectors
    • F24S2023/87—Reflectors layout
    • F24S2023/872—Assemblies of spaced reflective elements on common support, e.g. Fresnel reflectors
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24S—SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS; SOLAR HEAT SYSTEMS
    • F24S30/00—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules
    • F24S2030/10—Special components
    • F24S2030/13—Transmissions
    • F24S2030/136—Transmissions for moving several solar collectors by common transmission elements
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24S—SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS; SOLAR HEAT SYSTEMS
    • F24S30/00—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules
    • F24S2030/10—Special components
    • F24S2030/14—Movement guiding means
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24S—SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS; SOLAR HEAT SYSTEMS
    • F24S23/00—Arrangements for concentrating solar-rays for solar heat collectors
    • F24S23/70—Arrangements for concentrating solar-rays for solar heat collectors with reflectors
    • F24S23/80—Arrangements for concentrating solar-rays for solar heat collectors with reflectors having discontinuous faces
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24S—SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS; SOLAR HEAT SYSTEMS
    • F24S50/00—Arrangements for controlling solar heat collectors
    • F24S50/20—Arrangements for controlling solar heat collectors for tracking
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02B—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
    • Y02B10/00—Integration of renewable energy sources in buildings
    • Y02B10/20—Solar thermal
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/40—Solar thermal energy, e.g. solar towers
    • Y02E10/47—Mountings or tracking

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a solar tracking system embedded in a flat package, which exhibits no mechanical motion outside its form factor, and which can be compactly integrated in a fixed position to constitute parts of walls, roofs, etc of buildings or in free- standing structures.
  • the invention can be used for collecting and transmitting solar energy for heating and lighting applications.
  • the present invention relates to multi-element pointing arrays for receiving and/or emitting and/or reflecting electromagnetic or acoustic radiation.
  • direction-critical elements in the form of antennas, floodlights, laser projectors, etc are generally dependent upon being mechanically aligned in a desired direction, henceforth termed the pointing direction. In many cases, this direction shall change over time and the mechanical alignment must be re-directed accordingly.
  • the mechanical alignment may require a mounting support capable of rotation about one, two or three axes.
  • One-axis, or single-axis mounts can adjust the pointing direction in a plane.
  • Two-axis, or dual axis mounts can select any pointing direction in space, whereas three-axis mounts in addition can define the axial rotation angle along the pointing axis.
  • mounts are typically of either the single or dual axis type.
  • the passive gain of an antenna or the performance of a direction- critical element is generally a function of the effective area presented by the element in the pointing direction. In many applications it is therefore desirable to make the direction-critical element as large as possible, while remaining compatible with other requirements related to available space, maximum cost, weight etc. This often leads to conflicting demands on design, since large elements typically imply large bulk and weight and in turn lead to mounts that are large, heavy, costly and consume much power to move.
  • the areal energy density in sunlight is such that large collector areas are required to achieve energy harvesting on a scale that is relevant for solar energy to make an impact in the energy commodity market, ii) The sun moves over a large angular distance in the sky during the day.
  • the concentration ratio can vary, from 2 - 20 suns for one-axis trackers to hundreds or thousands of suns for the most advanced 2-axis systems (one sun is the unconcentrated solar flux) . This will reduce the photovoltaic (PV) area by the concentration factor.
  • Figs.la-h show some examples of prior art pointing element configurations, with emphasis on solar energy harvesting: Fig. Ia shows a 25 kw two-axis tracking and concentrating module by Amonix at Nevada
  • Fig. Ib shows another two-axis tracking and concentrating module (FLATCON type) by Fraunhofer ISE.
  • Fig. Ic shows an installation by Pyron Inc., where the whole two-axis tracking array is floating on water, in an attempt to avoid some of the problems associated with large pedestal-type mounts.
  • simplification has been sought in reducing the tracking precision requirements by employing extended area photovoltaic cells in conjunction with concentrating optics that produce relatively large focal spot sizes.
  • Fig. Id Soliant Energy, Inc.
  • photovoltaic cells capture energy along a focal line in parabolic trough concentrators that track about a single axis only.
  • Such solutions are not ideal since they either require significant amounts of photovoltaic material or waste solar energy through imperfect tracking.
  • Figs. Ie, f show examples of this:
  • a pedestal- mounted tracking parabolic concentrator collects light onto an optical fiber.
  • an array of lenses on a sun-tracking mount on a pedestal images sunlight onto a plurality of optical fibers which transport light to a point of use elsewhere.
  • Thermal energy generation from sunlight has a long history, generally associated with low technology and moderate temperatures, e.g. generation of hot water for domestic use. In such applications, it is relatively uncritical to perform precision alignment of the solar energy collector. However, it can confidently be predicted that in the future higher demands on cost efficiency, combined with novel technological opportunities for conversion and exploitation of thermal energy shall lead to more stringent demands on solar collector efficiency and thus concentrator devices and tracking systems also. Given the possibilities that can be envisaged on the basis of the present invention, this shall apply not only on a utility scale in multimegawatt plants, but also on small scales, e.g. in households and small enteprises where a flat package that has no externally moving parts and that can be mounted in a fixed position, with high tolerance to wind loads and bad weather can be expected to be of considerable interest.
  • pointing arrays confined in a stationary frame as taught in the present invention lend themselves naturally to dense side-by-side packing on walls, roofs, etc.
  • Such a side-by-side arrangement can exhibit a high integrated energy capture during the day, provided that the stationary frame is oriented such that it does not deviate much from normal incidence of sunlight at noon.
  • Comparison with a frame which tracks the sun so as to maintain normal incidence throughout the day shows that with diurnal insolation typical in many representative locales in the northern hemisphere, taking into account atmospheric attenuation and shading effects that often occur at low sun angles, the former may often capture up to 80% of the energy of the latter.
  • the modules are arranged side by side in a rectangular matrix and the panel defines a form factor which may be sufficiently flat for installation within a glazed building envelope system.
  • a closer scrutiny of the mechanical system of Dyson et al . reveals that their basic solution is unsuitable for use in mainstream building practices where requirements are uncompromising regarding cost, robustness, form factors and flexibility, and where simple and rapid installation by non-specialists is important:
  • the mechanical solar tracking arrangements taught by Dyson et al . can be functionally described as xy arrays of modules suspended by tautly stretched cables or linked rod-like members within a rectangular frame.
  • Fig. Ih The micro-mirrors are embedded in small spheres confined between two sheets and track the sun by rotating under the influence of individually induced dipoles.
  • the mirrored micro-balls are covered with a thin spherical shell of lubricating liquid so that they are free to rotate in an almost frictionless encapsulation between the sheets .
  • This concept requires individual control of thousands of microspheres and assumes the availability of printed transistors controlling each individual micro-ball, in addition to full row and column control circuitry. Such transistor circuitry does not exist at present, and most likely will not be available for low cost printing processes for several years to come. Furthermore, in most of the applications that appear relevant, the described local micro-ball control precision far exceeds what seems realistic to achieve with the technology being contemplated.
  • the light-transmitting surfaces (the sheet facing the incident light and the wall of the sphere) must be smooth and clear throughout the lifetime of the device, even when the spheres roll repeatedly across the surfaces .
  • the task of combining unfailing friction with high optical clarity throughout an extended lifetime may have prevented this concept from attaining commercial viability.
  • multi-element pointing arrays according to the present invention can be integrated as low-profile energy-harvesting entities into structures such as building facades, roofs, walls, pillars, chimneys, etc., either surface-mounted or as basic constituents of the walls, roofs, etc..
  • An associated important object of the present invention is to show how relay optics in multi-element pointing arrays according to the present invention can provide new opportunities for solar energy sharing in cooperating optical networks on small and large scales.
  • the invention relates to a multi-element two- or three-axis pointing array comprising at least two direction-critical elements capable of receiving and/or transmitting and or reflecting electromagnetic or acoustic radiation and further comprising mechanical parts for motion control, wherein each element in the array is adapted to exhibit a pointing and/or alignment motion by rotating about two or three axes and align substantially in parallel with other elements in the array, wherein at least two of said elements are directly or indirectly operated by mechanical links to at least two physical structures that can translate and/or rotate relative to each other on at least one of said at least two physical structures, wherein said pointing array is adapted to be contained within a flat package, i.e. with all mechanical parts confined within a form factor where one dimension is substantially smaller than the others.
  • the invention may be implemented in a flat package which exhibits no mechanical motion outside its form factor, with applications in solar energy harvesting for the generation of electricity and/or for collecting and transmitting solar energy for heating and lighting applications.
  • the flat package format enables compact integration in a fixed position in buildings to constitute parts of walls, roofs, etc or in free-standing structures.
  • the present invention may be implemented in multi-element pointing arrays for receiving and/or emitting and/or reflecting electromagnetic or acoustic radiation.
  • Each element is mechanically linked to two or more separate driver bodies, i.e. physical structures that are each connected to a mechanical power source and transmit the motor forces that move the pointing array.
  • the driver bodies follow different motion patterns that can be precisely controlled in a predictable manner by means of various types of mechanical guiding and restraining elements well known in mechanics which may include e.g. pivots, hinges, slide-guides, levers and rollers. Via their mechanical links to at least two driver bodies that move differently, the elements are brought to change their pointing direction in space in a precise and predictable manner.
  • driver bodies are structures where all constituent parts have a fixed spatial relationship to each other, so that the linking attachments of each driver body to the elements move as if attached to a monolithic body. At least one of the driver bodies extends across essentially the whole array, providing a high degree of robustness and precision, and allowing considerable freedom regarding the shape of the array, which may be rectangular, round or of a more complex contour.
  • the elements may be linked at a pivot point, to each of at least two of the physical structures.
  • the physical structures may typically remain essentially parallel during the pointing motion.
  • the structures may be subjected to mechanical restraints which may comprise torsion bars and/or hinges.
  • the mechanical restraints may also comprise sets of linear sliding guides restrained to move in orthogonal directions and where the linear sliding guides may comprise slits and/or swallow-tail guides and/or linear roller bearings.
  • the physical structures may be in the form of, e.g. a flat or corrugated solid plate, and/or a honeycomb structure, and/or a mesh, and/or a truss structure, and/or a frame with stretched wires or attachment positions around a periphery.
  • the direction-critical elements may be linked at a pivot point in a first of the at least two physical structures and via a mechanical connection at another point in a second of the physical structures.
  • the pivot points may be defined by a ball joint or a rod penetrating through a hole with elastic lining or an elastic membrane surrounding the hole, or a hinge connection.
  • the elements may have a first sliding and/or rolling pivot point linkage at a localized position on a first of the physical structures, and comprise a rigidly attached rod-like part which passes through a guiding track or slot on a second of the physical structures and a guiding track or slot on a third of the physical structures, the guiding tracks or slots on the second and third of the physical structures always maintaining a geometric relationship such that the spatial orientation of the rod-like part is uniquely defined.
  • the physical structures may translate in two mutually non-parallel directions and an additional structure may execute a rotating motion.
  • the elements may be mounted on a first physical structure which can rotate about a first axis, and where this first physical structure carries two or more array elements that can rotate about axes that are not parallel to said first axis and preferably substantially normal to same.
  • Said array elements may be mechanically connected to a second physical structure which is attached to said first physical structure, where said second physical structure can execute a translatory and/or rotating motion relative to said first physical structure, said translatory and/or rotating motion acting via mechanical linkages upon said array elements and causing them to rotate in synchronism.
  • the physical structures may be in the form of sheet- like objects which are kept apart by a plurality of spacer objects confined between the sheet-like objects, where each spacer object presents a spherical or cylindrical surface at the contact points against sheet-like objects and can roll when the sheet-like objects are translated parallel to each other.
  • the spacer objects may be spheres or part of spheres that incorporate direction-critical elements within or on the spacer object itself, on rigidly attached protrusions, pins or rods, or on flexible and/or elastic material attached to the sphere wall. Each direction-critical element is mechanically restrained so as to maintain a fixed position on at least one of the sheet-like objects.
  • the spacer objects may roll against a smooth surface on one of the sheet-like structures and roll in the confinement of a hole or pit on the other of the sheet-like structures. Parts of the spacer objects may be optically transparent.
  • the sheet-like objects may be kept together by magnetic, electrostatic, elastic or pneumatic forces distributed across their surfaces.
  • the multi-element array may be adapted to be mounted in a mechanical structure which can tilt and/or translate the array itself.
  • the array may be powered via one or more translating and/or rotating mechanical linkages to one or more mechanical power sources and share the power sources with one or more other arrays, and the array may transmit mechanical power to other arrays via one or more mechanical linkages integrated into the array.
  • the array may be adapted to be arranged along a linear mechanical power shaft that translates and/or rotates, or near the points in a two-dimensional matrix where two sets of mechanical power shafts cross each other, and to pick up mechanical power from the mechanical power shafts in one of the following ways: By permanent hook-up of all elements, or by engaging/disengaging a connection for one array or a subgroup of arrays in the matrix at a time.
  • the direction-critical elements may track the sun or another physical or virtual object, for example based on directional tracking input obtained from one or more radiation detectors in conjunction with logic circuitry, where the detectors intercept electromagnetic or acoustic radiation emitted or scattered from the object and determine its direction of incidence towards the direction-critical elements .
  • the detectors may be of the quadrant- or other direction-sensitive type and they may be located in at least one of the direction-critical elements .
  • tracking may be achieved by means of logic circuitry, position encoders and servo hardware, the logic circuitry deriving trajectory and timing information from a stored program, the program being either pre-loaded or generated in the logic circuitry by a learning algorithm.
  • the array may further comprise on-board logic and/or memory and/or electrical power storage facilities and the direction-critical elements may comprise photovoltaic elements .
  • the elements may comprise an optical structure for controlling and directing light which may comprise refractive a ⁇ d/or reflective and/or holographic and/or diffractive and/or absorptive and/or fluorescent and/or spectrally selective optical components. More precisely the optical components may comprise spherical simple or compound lenses, transparent monolithic objects in the form of spheres and/or light guides, holographic lenses, mirrors, Fresnel optics, edge- or bandpass- or greytone optical filters, optical modulators, polarizers.
  • the optical elements may reflect incoming light onto a target at some distance from the array " , and wherein the target is provided with means to generate feedback information on the amount of light that strikes the target, and wherein the feedback information is transferred to a processor which controls the motion of the direction critical elements.
  • the target may be a mirroring device that relays solar power onto yet another target, or it may be a solar energy collector with one or more of the following capabilities: Generation of electricity, conversion to thermal energy, simultaneous or sequential relaying of light energy in a linear or branched optical relay chain.
  • the means to generate feedback information may comprise photodetectors or temperature sensors, and the feedback information may be transferred from the target to the processor via a wired or wireless link or an optical fiber.
  • the optical structure may contain a light source such as incandescent and/or light emitting diode and/or laser and/or fluorescent and/or light guide, and light emitted from the light source may be collected by an optical system within the element and projected as a light beam from the element in the multi-element pointing array.
  • the light beam from the element may be collimated and parallel to the light beam from at least one other element.
  • the multi-element pointing array may constitute a directive searchlight or illuminator.
  • the light intensity and/or colour from the light sources in the elements may be independently controlled.
  • the multi-element pointing array may be an acoustic or electromagnetic energy collector where radiation incident upon the multi-element pointing array is concentrated by radiation concentrator structures in at least two of the direction-critical elements and brought to impinge on materials and/or structures which capture at least some of the radiant energy incident upon them.
  • the radiation concentrator elements may comprise of one or more lenses and/or mirrors which concentrate electromagnetic radiation in the form of a focal point, focal line or extended spot.
  • the materials and structures may convert incident radiative energy into electrical power.
  • the materials and structures may comprise a light trapping cavity, the light trapping cavity having an entrance opening for admitting light, one or more photovoltaic elements, and cavity walls that are highly reflecting where not covered by the photovoltaic elements.
  • a light trapping cavity may have a light reflection geometry wherein light is reflected from internal surfaces in a predefined sequence, and the light trapping cavity may have a geometry wherein an incident light beam reflects at different incidence angles and/or polarization conditions when undergoing multiple reflections within the cavity. Further the light trapping cavity may contain photovoltaic elements with different and complementary optical absorption characteristics.
  • the antenna or detector materials and structures may convert incident radiative energy into thermal energy.
  • the array may be encased in a closed volume suffused by a gaseous coolant which is guided by a pressure gradient past or through the antenna or detector materials and structures.
  • the materials and structures may form electromagnetic guide- or relay elements which can transmit electromagnetic power to points outside the concentrator elements and these elements may comprise an optical fiber or microwave waveguide.
  • the points outside the concentrator elements may be located in illumination structures, or these points may be located in structures which convert incoming radiation to electrical or thermal energy .
  • Figs . la-h show some examples of prior art pointing element configurations, with emphasis on solar energy harvesting.
  • Figs. 2a, b, c illustrate the basic principle of collinear motion of multiple elements that are linked to two parallel planes moving independently. Each element is represented by a pin that penetrates both planes .
  • Figs. 3a, b, c show a preferred embodiment of the present invention where directional control of multiple elements is achieved by two planes moving on two sets of hinges rotating about mutually orthogonal axes.
  • Figs.3a, 3b only the mounting pins linked to the two planes are shown, whereas 3c shows an example where optical concentrating elements with Fresnel lenses are mounted on top of the pins .
  • Figs.4a, b, c show top views of arrays of differently shaped or arranged elements that are in non-tilted position.
  • Fig. 5 shows an embodiment of the present invention where directional control of multiple elements, represented by pin-mounted conical structures, is achieved by the relative motion between two planes linked by hinged torsion bars .
  • Fig. 6 shows an embodiment of the present invention where directional control of multiple elements, represented by- pins, is achieved by the relative motion between two planes moving in mutually orthogonal, linear guides.
  • Figs. 7 a,b,c,d,e show alternative embodiments of the present invention.
  • Figs. 8 a,b,c show how angular tracking can be achieved by a set of linear and/or curved guides linked to rotating and/or translating structures.
  • Figs.9 a,b shows the basic configuration for two-axis angular tracking by means of a rotating platform and a hinged tilting element, along with a definition of relevant angular coordinates.
  • Figs.10a, b, c show further definitions of certain mechanical parameters related to the rotating platform and tilting element configuration, and illustrate how a large panel can be divided into a series of low profile slats .
  • Fig.11 shows how circular alignment platforms can be packed into hexagon modules, retaining a hexagonal close- packed pattern when the modules are assembled in an area- covering mode.
  • Fig.12 shows an example of the present invention where the rotating base platform is an open frame in the form of an annulus, and where panels are linked mechanically to execute a tilting motion in parallel.
  • Fig.13 shows a variant of the annulus design where the mechanical linkage between panels is achieved by means of a curved bar.
  • Figs.14 a,b show an embodiment of the present invention where the annulus design is implemented with concentrating optics in the tilting panels .
  • Figs.15 a,b show an open frame equivalent to the annulus design.
  • Fig. 16 shows an an embodiment employing the scheme of Fig. 15with concentrating optics in the tilting panels.
  • Figs. 17 a,b,c illustrate a principle where a pre-tilt is used in conjunction with tilting panels to reduce shadowing effects .
  • Figs.18 a,b,c show an embodiment of the present invention where a pellicle is used as a deformable mirror.
  • Fig. 19 is a view of the cross-section of an embodiment of the present invention, with lens and tracking mechanism, photovoltaic chip and conductor sheet with electronics attached to it.
  • Figs.20 a,b, c, d, e, f , g, h show different types of concentrating optics that can be used in certain embodiments of the present invention.
  • Figs. 21a,b,c show versions of the present invention as applied in photovoltaic solar power conversion.
  • Fig.22 shows a non-concentrating array of photovoltaic cells that are aligned such that they face the sun and track it throughout the day.
  • Fig.23 shows an application of the present invention where a tracking array of optical concentrator elements converts solar radiation to thermal energy.
  • Fig. 24 is a view of an embodiment where the incoming light is transported via a fiber to an outside photovoltaic device or other type of device.
  • Fig.25 shows an application of the present invention for transmitting and distributing light.
  • Fig. 26 is a view of an embodiment where a fan is transporting heat away from photovoltaic material.
  • Fig. 27 shows tracking solar arrays according to the present invention that are integrated into the walls and roof of a house.
  • Figs. 28a, b show tracking solar arrays according to the present invention that are integrated into the outer surfaces of a car and a boat.
  • Fig.29 shows an example of a light trapping configuration.
  • Fig.30 is shows the principle of a tandem solar cell.
  • Figs.3 Ia, b are examples of light trapping structures incorporating tandem solar cells.
  • Fig.32 shows a thin-film solar cell.
  • Fig.33 illustrates reflection of light from a metal mirror coated with a thin film material.
  • Fig.34 is an example of a light trapping cell with skew angled walls .
  • Fig.35a shows an array of tiltable mirrors relaying an incoming parallel bundle of light beams as another parallel bundle of light beams onto a target.
  • Fig.35b shows multiple arrays of tiltable mirrors relaying incoming parallel light beams onto a common target which contains a retroreflecting device.
  • Fig.36 shows multiple arrays of tiltable mirrors relaying incoming parallel light beams onto a common target.
  • Fig.37 shows an array of tiltable mirrors mounted on rotating spheres .
  • Figs. 38a, b show arrays of tiltable mirrors based on rotating spheres that carry mirrors on external facets or within.
  • Fig.39 shows an example of a free-space solar illumination relay arrangement inside a house.
  • Fig.40 shows part of a light-emitting pointing array.
  • Fig.41 shows an arrangement where a plurality of individual pointing array panels is controlled by a matrix of mechanical power trains driven by two motors .
  • Figs.42, 43, 44 show different aspects of a rotate-and- tilt panel, which may be coupled to other panels as exemplified in Fig.42.
  • Fig.45 shows another variant of a rotate-and-tilt panel.
  • the direction and position of a straight line in three-dimensional space can be defined by the three- dimensional coordinates of at least two points at separate positions on the line.
  • the pointing direction can be controlled by attaching each of said two points to separate driver bodies and moving those separate driver bodies relative to each other.
  • the direction and position of a straight line in three-dimensional space can also be defined by the three-dimensional coordinates of one point on the line and the direction vector of the line from that point. This direction vector may be uniquely determined by its intersection with one-dimensional features on two or more surfaces in space. If these surfaces move relative to said point on the line, the direction vector changes.
  • driver bodies In the present invention, multiple objects are mechanically connected between two or more driver bodies or sets of driver bodies, causing all connected ' objects to move in a predefined manner.
  • the driver bodies shall be attached at points lying on concentric spherical shells or on mutually parallel* planes. The latter shall be the object of primary but not exclusive focus in the following.
  • Fig.2 a mechanical arrangement based on translational displacements between two parallel but separated planar sheets makes it possible to control the pointing direction of large numbers of objects that are anchored at one point in each sheet. If the objects are anchored such that their pointing axes are initially collinear, their pointing directions will change but remain collinear. This shall now be described in some detail with particular reference to Figures 2 - 7, for the case where the sheets are translated relative to each other without relative rotation about their surface normals . Examples of alternative embodiments based in part on rotational motion and more than two physical driver bodies are described with reference to Figs.8a,b,c.
  • Figs.2a,b, c illustrate the case where the objects are three straight pins that penetrate both sheets in tightly fitting holes.
  • the pins are initially oriented at right angles to the sheets as shown in Fig.2a, and the sheets are initially separated by a distance Zi along the z axis.
  • the pins can tilt in the holes in each sheet at their penetration points and may or may not be allowed to slide lengthwise through the holes, depending on the application: If the pins are restrained from sliding in the holes of both the upper and lower sheets, the length of each pin between the sheets is constant and a hinged motion results where the sheets come closer together (separation distance Z ⁇ Zi) as the upper sheet is moved from the initial
  • the length of each pin between the sheets shall vary, depending on how the distance Z between the sheets varies during the motion of the upper sheet.
  • Z is constant during a translation Y of the upper sheet
  • the pin length between the sheets would increase from Z initially to V(Z 2 +Y 2 ) . This is the case if, e.g. the sheet motion is confined to a linear guide parallel to the y axis.
  • Fig.2c the top sheet has remained stationary, while the bottom sheet has been moved in the x direction from its initial position in Fig.2a.
  • the bottom sheet has been moved parallel to itself (i.e. without rotation about the z axis) . All pins are tilted by the same amount, but now they tilt in the xz plane.
  • Fig.3a is shown how the top and bottom sheets are both supported by hinges that are anchored to a common plane base.
  • one set of hinges, supporting the top plane is oriented in one direction
  • another set of hinges, supporting the bottom plane is oriented at right angles to the first set of hinges .
  • the two planes can move independent of each other by tilting the hinged sidewalls, causing the set of pins to point in any desired direction within the free range of motion.
  • Fig.3c where a set of Fresnel-lens based optical concentrating elements on pins are shown in tilted position.
  • the length of pin connecting the penetration points in the upper and lower sheets shall depend on the relative positions between the upper and lower sheets, and allowance must be made for a sliding motion of the pin through one or both of the penetration points. Also, the slewing response of the pins to a given motion of the upper or lower sheet depends strongly on the relative positions of the upper and lower sheets. This does not represent a problem when, e.g. a feedback system or a look-up table in conjunction with position information is used.
  • the tiltable elements in an array shall be close together and provide dense area coverage.
  • the front end of each element is circular, and the elements are positioned relative to each other in a hexagonal close packed (HCP) pattern.
  • HCP hexagonal close packed
  • the present invention provides great freedom in accommodating different types of area-covering array elements in a wide range of different patterns.
  • Figs.4a-c show top views of arrays of differently shaped elements that are in non-tilted position:
  • a square array of close-packed square elements provides complete area coverage with no cracks or glitches between neighbouring elements.
  • a certain distance must be allowed between elements to account for finite mechanical tolerances.
  • the elements must not be allowed to execute uncontrolled rotation about their tilting axes. This can be handled by incorporating mechanical restraints against rotation in the tilting mechanisms according to the present invention, but generally is a complicating factor.
  • the maximum possible tilt angle above a planar support is less in the direction of the corners of the elements .
  • Fig.4b shows a HCP arrangement of circular elements as discussed previously. Even at maximum density as shown here, the areal coverage is limited to approximately 0.91, and finite mechanical tolerances shall in practice reduce the areal coverage further.
  • Fig.4c One way to increase the areal coverage is illustrated in Fig.4c : Here, the circular elements are arranged in two tiers : In the lower tier are elements in a HCP pattern as was shown in Fig.4b, but with some of the elements removed. In the openings thus created are mounted somewhat larger elements that form an upper tier in an expanded hexagonal pattern.
  • FIG.4b Another way of increasing the area coverage over that shown in Fig.4b is to fill the openings with a set of smaller objects (not shown) .
  • the latter need not be in a plane raised above that of the objects in the HCP pattern and may be linked to the same angular tilting control as the larger elements..
  • Fig.5 is shown how a hinged motion in two orthogonal directions can be achieved by means of one or more torsion bars (1) that are anchored by a hinge (2) to a flat lower sheet (3) and run through a hinge (4) on the upper sheet (5) .
  • Directional antenna elements in the form of open cones (6) are rigidly mounted on mounting pins (7) that pivot about rotational joints (8), (9) in the upper and lower sheets, respectively.
  • the pivot points (8) and hinge axes (4) on the upper sheet lie in a common plane, as do the pivot points (9) and hinge axes (2) in the lower sheet.
  • Each torsion bar has four torque-transmitting hinges (10) .
  • Two motors (11), (12) are shown linked to the upper sheet, providing position control and displacement force in two orthogonal directions.
  • the hinge positions, etc, can be varied without departing from the basic principle shown, e.g. by making the torsion bars as complete loops or having a gap at the upper sheet instead of the lower sheet.
  • the two sheets are kept apart by a set of springs (13) surrounding the pins, but many other arrangements are obvious to the skilled person.
  • ball joints are shown at the pivot points where the pin passes through the upper and lower sheets. A ball joint is advantageous in many instances where precision and load bearing capacity are of importance.
  • a feature of the architecture shown in Fig.5 is that motion takes place without changing the distance between the upper and lower pivot points .
  • connecting pins do not need to absorb any shortening or lengthening by telescoping or sliding.
  • the upper and lower sheets are restrained by the torsion bars from rotating about their surface normals, which is required for all pins and elements to execute the same rotational motion about their pivot points.
  • Fig.6 is shown an arrangement where both the upper and lower sheets run through guides , the upper guide allowing translation without rotation in one direction, the lower guide allowing translation without rotation in a direction orthogonal to the first.
  • Figs. 7a,b,c show examples of alternative embodiments of the present invention:
  • guides or other arrangements which confine the motion of each sheet to be purely translational, i.e. no rotation about a surface normal axis is allowed.
  • the upper sheet has openings which hold spheres in place, while allowing them to roll on the lower sheet when a translation of the sheets occurs. The spheres roll smoothly in the holes, but exhibit friction against the surface on the lower sheet. A mild force draws the two sheets together.
  • Fig. 7a a set of pins that penetrate an upper and a lower sheet which can slide against each other, either supported by roller bearings as in Fig.7b or by direct surface-to-surface contact as shown in Fig.7c.
  • the pins rotate about penetration points in the upper and lower sheets where elastic insets in the sheets permit a certain motion. As shown in the inset, the pins are kept from axial displacement relative to the upper sheet by a narrow neck at the upper penetration point, whereas they can slide axially through the penetration point in the lower sheet during pointing alignment.
  • Fig. 7d shows a variant related to the one shown in Fig.7a:
  • the top plate (8) and the bottom plate (9) are kept at a fixed vertical distance from each other. In this particular example this is achieved by using spheres (12) that roll against the bottom plate (9), but which are kept in position relative to the top plate (8) by penetrating the same top plate through holes (6) with a diameter which is smaller than that of the spheres (12) .
  • the rod (7) follows the x - y motions of the bottom plate (9) , and by doing so rotates the sphere (4) in the shaped hole (11) in the top plate, and hence the trough (2) and the directional element (1) .
  • the rod (7) is fixed onto a sphere (3) which is free to rotate in a shaped hole (10) in the bottom plate.
  • the rod (7) can slide smoothly in and out along a bore channel in the hollow tip extension (5) when the top and bottom plates move relative to each other in the x - y directions.
  • the two plates (8) and (9) are drawn together by a force which at the same time permits the plates to move laterally relative to each other.
  • the corresponding arrangement is not shown in Fig.7d, but can be designed in several possible ways, e.g. incorporating elastic components as in Fig.5 or magnetic forces as in Fig.7a.
  • Fig. 7 ⁇ shows a variant of the arrangement in Fig.7d:
  • the rod (5) is fixed on the upper sphere (4) and extends all the way down through a bore channel in the lower sphere (3) where it can slide smoothly when the top and bottom plates move relative to each other.
  • the spheres (4) and (5) can rotate in the shaped holes
  • the elements in a multi-element pointing array may also be directly or indirectly linked to more than two physical structures that can translate and/or rotate relative to each other.
  • a set of tiltable pins (1) is anchored at fixed pivot points in a planar sheet (2) .
  • the tilt direction of each pin is defined by the crossing point of guides located in two separate sheets (4), (6), as observed from the pivot point. This crossing point moves when the different guides move due to rotational and/or translational motion of the physical structure carrying the guides. As long as the guides are not near-parallel, adequate control of the pins can be achieved.
  • Fig.8a five pins (1) penetrate a stationary upper sheet (2) and a set of spiral guides (3) in a stationary lower sheet (4) which is parallel to the upper one.
  • Each pin is allocated its own spiral guide which is located above a carousel (5) on a stationary lowest sheet (6) which is parallel to sheets (2) and (4) .
  • the carousel can rotate about an axis which is perpendicular to the sheets and passes through the spiral center, and has a linear guide which the pin passes through. Since each spiral guide can be completely traversed by rotation of the carousel underneath, the corresponding pin can be brought to point in any direction ( ⁇ , ⁇ ) defined by the penetration point in the top sheet and any point on the spiral .
  • all pins can be aligned collinearly in any direction within the defined range of angles ( ⁇ , ⁇ ) .
  • each carousel can be activated separately from the others, enabling each pin to point in a direction which may differ from the directions of the other pins.
  • rotational motion and no translational motion is employed in this case, more complex variants of this scheme are possible:
  • the sheet (2) is brought to translate relative to sheets (4), (6) while the carousels rotate at the same time, in which case the tilting motion engendered by the rotating carousels is superimposed on the tilting motion caused by translation of the sheets.
  • Fig.8b shows another variant where three planar structures are involved, two of which contain linear guides: Five pins (1) penetrate a stationary upper sheet (2), a set of linear guides (3) in a lower sheet (4) which can translate in a direction perpendicular to the guides, and a set of linear guides (5) in a lowest sheet (6) .
  • the guides (3) and (5) are perpendicular to each other, and the sheet (6) can translate in a direction normal to the guides (5) .
  • all 5 pins tilt in v parallel when the sheets (4) and/or (6) are translated.
  • Figs. 8a # b The basic principle of differential motion (rotation and/or translation) of structures containing mechanical guides, as exemplified in Figs. 8a # b, can be employed in a wide range of embodiments, some of which can generate highly complex but precisely controlled motion patterns in an array of tiltable elements .
  • An example is shown in Fig.8c, where the arrangement is very similar to that shown in Fig.8b, with pins (1), upper sheet (2) and linear guides (3) in the lower sheet (4) .
  • the guides (5) in the lowest sheet (6) are along curves that cause the pins to wiggle in the x direction in response to linear translation of sheet (3) in the y direction. This wiggle is superimposed on any tilt in the x direction caused by a motion of sheet (6) in the x direction.
  • the sheets (2), (4) and (6) need not be parallel or planar
  • Figs.9 a and 9b show how two-axis alignment of a given planar object (1) with a surface normal N can be achieved by a combination of a rotation of a platform (2) (rotation coordinate ⁇ about z axis, which is a surface normal to the platform) , combined with a tilt relative to the platform (polar angle ⁇ ) .
  • This principle in one version or another, is routinely used in a large number of mounts for antennas, floodlights, etc, and also for aligning solar panels against the sun.
  • the mechanical arrangement In order to be able to point the surface normal N in any direction in space, the mechanical arrangement must allow the polar angle ⁇ to range from 0 to 180 degrees and the azimuth angle from 0 to 360 degrees, cf .
  • Fig.9a shows how two-axis alignment of a given planar object (1) with a surface normal N can be achieved by a combination of a rotation of a platform (2) (rotation coordinate ⁇ about z axis, which is a surface
  • hemispherical coverage is adequate, corresponding to a range of polar angles between 0 and 90 degrees. This shall be the case in the arrangement shown in Fig.9b, where a circular disc carries the planar object (1) that is to be tilted.
  • s the side dimension of the planar object
  • ⁇ the tilt angle.
  • the maximum height h shall also become large as the tilt angle increases. This is often undesirable, and may be disqualifying in certain applications, e.g. in solar energy conversion where practical aspects relating to limited available space, manoeuvreabilty and susceptibility to wind loads can be critical.
  • the maximum height h can be reduced while at the same time conserving the area of tilted surface, by dividing the original tilting object shown as (1) in Fig.10 a into a plurality of smaller objects, e.g. like the Venetian blind-like arrangement of rectangular panels shown (3a) -(3e) in Fig.10 b.
  • the platform may have any shape and needs not be planar or even sheet-like, but a circular platform is a good choice in many practical applications where space is limited and full freedom of azimuth motion (360 degrees) is required.
  • a circular platform is a good choice in many practical applications where space is limited and full freedom of azimuth motion (360 degrees) is required.
  • a number of circular platforms may be positioned to cover a given surface, in which case the maximum surface coverage is achieved by the well-known close-packed hexagonal (HCP) arrangement shown in Fig.11.
  • HCP close-packed hexagonal
  • each platform can be incorporated into a module with hexagon sides without sacrificing the areal surface covering density of the circular platforms.
  • the modules can be added one at a time in all directions, to create a dense wall or roof cover.
  • the "dead space" at the corners inside each hexagon can be used to position mechanical and electrical equipment to achieve controlled motion of the
  • Fig.12 shows an example where the platform is an annular frame (2) where the tilting panels on the form of rectangular slats (3a) -(3c) can rotate about hinges (1) in the rim of the annulus .
  • the slats are mechanically locked to rotate in parallel by means of a common yoke (6) rotatably connected to the top of the slats by joints (7) .
  • the tilting motion is controlled by a motor (5) connected to one of the slats at its rotational axis.
  • the annular frame itself can be rotated by means of a second motor (4) which drives a cylinder (8) which is pressed against the outer rim of the annular platform.
  • Fig.12 shows only one amongst a large number of embodiments that can be based on this general idea.
  • the mechanical linkage between the slats can take the form shown in Fig.13, where the top of the slats (3a) -(3c) are hinged into a common curved rail (9) which has a shape corresponding to a part of the platform annulus (2) below. This avoids shadowing of incoming radiation on the slats.
  • the arrangement for fastening the slats onto the platform, mounting and rotating the platform, linking the slats, etc can be varied numerous ways without departing from the basic concepts of the present invention.
  • each panel (3a) -(3c) is a planar mirror, and there is strictly no need for the platform to be open in the middle. In other applications, however, the panels contain optical elements that concentrate incoming light to a focus down below, and where the open frame design is very useful to create a simple and compact device.
  • An example of this is shown in Figs.14 a # b, where each panel (3a) -(3c) contains two or more Fresnel lenses (10) (clearly, equivalent embodiments are possible where individual lenses, which may be of any kind, are controlled by the same principles as shown in Figs.14a,b) .
  • the light is focused behind the lenses and strikes a photovoltaic cell (11) positioned on a structure linked to the panel in front of it.
  • Fig.14 a and the side view drawing Fig.14 b the structure is shown as a bar (12) which is parallel to the panel in front of it and connected to the latter by struts (13) .
  • a connecting bar (14) links the system such that the panels tilt simultaneously and in parallel.
  • the Fresnel lenses are positioned as discrete, identical elements side by side along each panel, forming a point focus behind them.
  • each panel could be shaped as indicated in Fig.10 c, and the Fresnel lens pattern could extend all the way to the edge of each panel.
  • optics that creates a line focus instead, parallel to and extending along the bar (11) .
  • FIG. 15 a,b Another variant of the basic rotate-and-tilt principle in combination with multiple mechanically linked panels is shown in Figs. 15 a,b:
  • incident light (6) illuminates a set of panels (Ia)- (Ic) that are rigidly mounted on straight members (2a)- (2c) linked to two open frames (3), (4) .
  • a hinged motion results and all panels are tilted by the same angle.
  • the lower frame is mounted so as to provide a rotational degree of freedom in the azimuth (7)
  • Figs. 15 a,b the panels shall partially shadow each other when they are in tilted position (cf . Fig. 15 b) to face radiation (shown by arrows) that is incident at an oblique angle, unless they are spaced apart to a considerable extent.
  • Figs. 17 a,b,c illustrate how this problem can be mitigated by a minor modification implying a fixed pre- tilt of the panels (1) relative to the straight members (2) that support them.
  • the panels are mounted at right angles to the members as shown previously, with panel-to-panel distance chosen to give 100% areal coverage for light coming from directly overhead.
  • all panels except one lose half of the radiation when tilted towards incoming light at the angle shown, due to shadowing.
  • pre-tilting the panels as shown in Figs. 17 b,c it becomes possible to retain 100% areal coverage for radiation incident directly from above, while at the same time reducing the shadow effect when the radiation is incident at an oblique angle.
  • Figs. 42-45 Yet another variant of the basic rotate-and-tilt principle, exemplified in combination with multiple mechanically linked panels is illustrated in Figs. 42-45:
  • the panels are shown as planar direction sensitive elements (1) with rectangular outline which are arrayed in rows where all elements in a given row have their surface normals or optical axes pointing in an essentially parallel manner and remain in parallel as they execute an angular tracking motion.
  • the elements may be in the form of e.g. mirrors, lenses, solar panels or antennas and are shown in a planar form here, but may more generally be shaped as thick lenses, parabolic mirrors, etc.
  • the panels with the arrayed elements can be designed to provide a higher degree of area coverage than the azimuth-rotating carousels illustrated in Fig.11 since "dead area" between the moving platforms can be greatly minimized:
  • the elements (1) are mounted in a rectangular frame (2) that can rotate about an axle (3) aligned in the y-direction (cf. Cartesian coordinate system inset referred to frame in Figs.42 and 44.
  • Cartesian coordinate system inset referred to frame in Figs.42 and 44.
  • Each element can further rotate about the x-direction relative to the frame, between the hinged end-points (4) , (5) shown in Figs.43, 44 or about an axle (13) as shown in Fig.45.
  • the end- points (4), (5) are connected to frame-mounted linear activator members (6) , (7) which can execute a relative motion (8) along the y-axis .
  • the first activator member (7) is a fixed part of the frame itself, whereas the second activator member (6) is a rod which has been omitted in Fig.42 for clarity.
  • this type of arrangement can cause all elements in a given frame to rotate in unison about two axes .
  • the surface normal N can at most be rotated by 90 degrees about the frame-fixed Cartesian coordinate system, providing only half hemispherical angular coverage.
  • many types of mechanical modifications to the arrangement shown are possible that allow the elements (1) and second activator member (6) to dip into an opening in the frame (2) and thus make it possible for the surface normal to have 180 degrees of rotational freedom about the x-axis.
  • each element may be mounted on and rotate about a frame-mounted axle (13) which is rotated by a common link to an activator means.
  • Fig.45 One example is shown schematically in Fig.45, where axle supports, etc have been omitted for clarity:
  • the axle (13) is terminated by a cylinder (9) in contact with a frame-mounted linear activator member (10) .
  • the activator member is moved (11)
  • the elements rotate in unison and can execute complete hemispherical pointing motion by a combined motion of the linear activator (10) and rotation (12) by the axle (3) .
  • the present variant of the basic rotate-and-tilt principle makes it possible to achieve a very high degree of area coverage, by tiling multiple frames together and coupling them in a common mechanical drive system to make them track in parallel.
  • a large number of area-filling frames may be controlled by very few mechanical drive motors, and in certain cases only one motor is required for controlling each of the two independent tilt motions in the whole array.
  • Fig.42 three frames are shown side by side. In this example, the axle of each frame is terminated in a roller which is mechanically in contact with a linear activator member (13) . When the latter moves (14) all frames rotate in unison.
  • This type of mechanical activator linkage can be extended to encompass a considerable number of frames, also in a two-dimensional arrangement.
  • the friction-based roller may be substituted by a chain- and sprocket combination, toothed linear linkage member or other means well-known in the art.
  • a set of parallel mirror surfaces are tilted relative to the platform, but where each mirror surface is created by a pellicle, i.e. a reflecting (e.g. metallized) thin film which is stretched flat .
  • a pellicle i.e. a reflecting (e.g. metallized) thin film which is stretched flat .
  • FIGs.18 a-c An example of this is shown in Figs.18 a-c, where three different tilt angles are exhibited in a side view.
  • the film (1) is stretched taut at all times in the lateral direction, and has a metallized mirror-like surface.
  • a set of thin rods or wires (2) and knife edges (3) run parallel to each other, where the knife edges can be shifted in the vertical direction by a common mechanical member (4) .
  • Fig.18a the knife edges are fully lowered, and the film is flat.
  • Figs.18b, c show the knife edges at two different elevations, with the thin rods or wires set in the original position.
  • the film yields by sliding over the supporting thin rods or wires and the knife edges, being kept taut by elastic edge retainers on each side (not shown) .
  • the membrane is itself elastic with fixed mounting on the edges .
  • the mechanical arrangements discussed above can be used for solar energy harvesting, where, e.g. the components referred to as (11) in Fig.14b and (9) in Fig.16 are photovoltaic cells. Alternatively, they may be some type of thermo-electric element, feed-in points for light guides or thermal energy transport conduits. In certain applications the tilting panels may be mirrors that relay the solar energy to solar energy converters at other locations. In other applications, the tilting arrays may contain components that emit light instead. Examples of emissive arrays are directive illuminators and displays, which shall be treated in more detail later in this document. It may be noted by inspection of Figs.
  • the present invention makes it possible to create pointing arrays in the form of array elements mounted on compact, low profile frames.
  • the frames carrying the pointing arrays may themselves be tilted about one, two or three axes, making use of the basic strategies taught in the present invention or other schemes . This can be used to extend the total tilt range of the array elements.
  • tilting of the frames may be used to simplify design or enhance performance.
  • precision pointing towards a target can be performed as a two-stage process where the frame provides coarse adjustment and the array elements in the frame perform fine adjustment, e.g. by small-scale angular dithering (cf. discussion in conjunction with Fig.33a below) .
  • the first category is the conversion of light to electrical energy by means of photovoltaic cells, where tracking optical systems concentrate the light onto smaller areas of photovoltaically sensitive surfaces, or where the photovoltaic surfaces themselves are kept facing the sun at optimal angle throughout the day.
  • An indirect variant is where sunlight is relayed by tracking mirrors at one location and brought to impinge on a solar photovoltaic panel at another location.
  • the second category is the capture of solar energy in thermal form. This may take place with the aid of concentrating optics to create high temperatures inside the tracking array itself, it may be part of a low- temperature thermal handling system, or it may involve relaying sunlight by tracking mirrors at one location onto a thermal solar energy collector at another location.
  • Transmission may be by optical light guide that requires concentrating of the sunlight before transmission, e.g. an optical fiber, or it may be by free-space transmission from directive mirror arrays.
  • the tilting panels panels may be flat solar cells that are maintained at optimal angle relative to the sun, or they may be optical elements designed to reflect or transmit light.
  • Figs. 14a,b and Fig.16 show lens- or mirror-based solar concentrator embodiments:
  • the panels (3a-c) contain lenses (10) (here shown as Fresnel lenses) that focus sunlight onto photovoltaic cells (11) (or alternatively optical or thermal energy collector elements) located on a bar-shaped mount (12) that is rigidly attached by struts (13) to the panels (3a-c) .
  • the panels contain lenses (8) that focus sunlight onto photovoltaic cells (9) (or alternatively optical or thermal energy collector elements) located on a mount (10) below that is rigidly attached to the panels.
  • Flat, open frames with solar panel slats may be integrated into windows .
  • the slats can be directed towards the sun for maximum electricity generation or they can be partially or completely closed (i.e. positioned flat in the plane of the frame) to control the amount of light passing through the window to the inside. In the latter case, a trade-off choice may have to be made between'power generation on the one hand and internal illumination on the other hand.
  • the solar panel slats structure can permit efficient cooling by an air flow passing through it.
  • the slats can be closed to protect privacy, and in cold or hot weather the degree of opening may be selected for optimal heat transmission through the window opening.
  • Fig. 19 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention as applied in a tracking solar concentrator application for photovoltaic energy conversion.
  • Displayed is a cross-section of a trough-structure (2) carrying a lens (1) which captures and concentrates incoming solar radiation (3) .
  • the trough (the trough wall can be open except for support structure for the lens) is attached to a sphere (4) onto which a hollow tip extension (5) is attached.
  • An upper plate (8) keeps the sphere in place via a circular shaped hole (6) .
  • a rod (7) which penetrates the hollow tip extension (5) is attached to a small sphere (14) at the opposite end.
  • the sphere (14) is kept in position in the bottom plate (9) by means of a shaped hole (13) .
  • the bottom plate (9) can move in the x and y directions under the control of motors (12) positioned at two of its sides.
  • the distance between the top plate (8) and the bottom plate (9) is fixed. This is achieved in this particular embodiment by permanently attaching the top plate (8) to the side walls of the surrounding casing (11) , while the bottom plate is free to slide in the x and y directions with proper push/pull from the motors (12) , e.g. via horizontal guides or openings (10) in the sidewalls of the casing (as is clear from descriptions above, alternative embodiments are possible as well according to the present invention, where both the top plate and the bottom plate move each in its own direction) .
  • a transparent cover (15) protects the solar concentrator device from dust, etc, and may also perform optical filtering of incoming light.
  • the concentrating system functions as follows: If the lens (1) is positioned perpendicular to the incoming beams (3) from the sun, the beams will converge towards the focal point (20) inside the trough structure.
  • a sensor (16) which feeds its information via a processor/power unit (17) and cables (18) to motors (12), which then move the bottom plate (9) in the correct x and y direction to ensure that the lens always will be kept perpendicular to the solar beams (alternatively a micro-processor controls the tracking position via time, date and latitude position, or the output power from the photovoltaic chip (19) is maximized via a feedback loop) .
  • the lens obtains its correct position in this manner since the rod (7) follows the x - y motions of the bottom plate (9) , and by doing so, it is able to move the sphere (4) correspondingly, and hence the trough (2) and the lens (1) .
  • the rod (7) slides smoothly in and out of the hollow tip extension (5) in response to the x - y motion of the bottom plate (9) .
  • a photovoltaic chip (19) is located near the focal point (21) of the lens (1) at the top of the trough.
  • the local thermal load on the chip will be high, the required pointing accuracy of the through will be high, and the solar energy efficiency in diffuse light and overcast conditions will be low.
  • the side walls of the trough may have steps or mounting niches (22) at intervals from the top of the trough to the bottom where photovoltaic chip modules having different diameters can be attached at defined locations.
  • steps or mounting niches (22) at intervals from the top of the trough to the bottom where photovoltaic chip modules having different diameters can be attached at defined locations.
  • the concentrating arrangement described may also allow other opportunities to reduce costs.
  • the lenses (1) are typically circular and produce a circular spot of concentrated light on the chip (19) .
  • the silicon material used for the photovoltaic chip modules are grown from cylindrical ingots, which are first cut into thin slices, these again are cut into cell modules of desired shape and size. The latter operation typically reduces the silicon yield by at least 33%. This loss can be avoided if the ingot slices are used directly in circular form.
  • the size of the concentrated light spot is generally much smaller than the 6" ingot slice diameter commonly used as a starter before cutting into squares today. Growing smaller diameter ingots is less costly, and if the diameter is sufficiently small, e.g. ⁇ 1 cm, one may even envisage cutting circular slices from the ingot in a less material consuming way than is standard today, where as much as > 20% of the ingot material is lost through the cutting process (mostly sawing into rectangular or polygon shapes) .
  • electrical contacting to the photovoltaic chip is based on a flexible conductor sheet (23) .
  • This sheet is able to fold sufficiently between the troughs (2) when they are tracking to allow a robust and inexpensive implementation, especially in cases where the number and spatial density of tracking troughs is high.
  • the photovoltaic chips are typically attached to the conductor sheet before being integrated in the trough (2), via e.g. a standard pick and place process.
  • the conductor sheet (23) is a priori equipped with printed electrical wires and thus functions as a flexible printed circuit board which can have other control circuitry onboard, e.g. for controlling voltage and current variations, DC/AC inverter conversion, etc. (24) .
  • a flexible circuit board as described here is only one amongst several alternative ways of providing electrical contacting to a plurality of individual photovoltaic chips.
  • One alternative is to employ metal wires connected to each chip, where the wires are led from the chip in such a way that they do not impede the motion of the pointing array, e.g. by feeding the wires through channels that penetrate the mechanical mounting means
  • the biconvex lens (1) shown in Fig.19 is only one example of many optical systems that can be implemented in embodiments equivalent to that shown here.
  • Other examples of concentrating optics are shown in Figures 20a-20f, where in each case (1) is the photovoltaic chip and (2) is the optical concentrating element:
  • the concentrating element is a biconvex lens in Fig.20a, a Fresnel lens in Fig.20b, a holographic element in Fig.20c, a parabolic mirror in Fig.2Od, a diffuse or specular reflector in Fig.20e, and a Cassegrain reflector in Fig.2Of .
  • the examples shown are not exhaustive.
  • the concentrating elements may be combined with optical filters that transmit or reject certain spectral regions from the incident light, and diffuser elements may be incorporated to spread the illumination more evenly on the photovoltaic chip.
  • diffuser elements may be integrated into the optical structures in several ways to optimize performance.
  • chips of the bifacial type capture light from both the front and the rear side.
  • Figs.21a,b, c Simplified and miniaturised versions of the present invention as applied in photovoltaic solar power conversion are shown in Figs.21a,b, c .
  • light is captured by a plurality of lenses in the form of spheres that are arrayed between two plates or sheets .
  • Each transparent sphere (1) focuses incoming light (2) onto a photovoltaic chip (3) which is attached to the sphere at the back wall near the focal point.
  • the focus point will shift along the back wall of the sphere.
  • the sphere is forced to rotate such that the position of the chip always coincides with the focus point.
  • Figs.21a,b,c this is achieved by confining each sphere between two parallel plates (5), (6) which can move relative to each other in a lateral direction.
  • Three variants are shown:
  • Fig.21a light passes through the transparent upper plate (5) and the sphere and is focused on the opposite wall of the sphere.
  • the sphere is kept in position by a mild force keeping the upper and lower plates together, and when the plates move relative to each other, friction at the contact point (8) between the sphere and the top plate causes the sphere to roll in the shaped hole (7) in the lower plate (6) .
  • the photovoltaic chip is attached to flexible electrical wiring (4), e.g. in a conductor sheet with similar features as the flexible circuit board (23) described in connection with Fig.19. When the spheres roll in the holes (7), the connecting points for the wiring move in parallel causing some flexing but little stretching of the latter.
  • the sphere (1) protrudes from a shaped hole (8) in the upper plate (5) an can rotate in this hole when the upper plate is translated sideways relative to the lower plate (6) .
  • Light rays (2) enter the sphere directly and are focused near the opposite wall of the sphere where it strikes a photovoltaic chip (3) which is attached to the sphere and connected electrically to flexible wiring (4), e.g. on a flexible conductor sheet.
  • the latter is attached to the lower plate (6) at anchor points (9) positioned at regular intervals between the spheres .
  • the sphere When the upper and lower plates move relative to each other in the lateral directions, the sphere is brought to rotate due to lateral shearing forces acting upon it from the two plates, the upper plate from the sidewalls in the shaped hole (8), and the lower plate via friction and/or tugging forces from the attached conductor sheet .
  • Figs.21a,b, c complement each other in various ways.
  • the design in Fig.21a avoids involving the electrical wiring, etc in the function of transmitting rotating forces to the spheres, and provides opportunities for attaching the photovoltaic chip and electrical wiring after mechanical assembly of the plates and spheres.
  • the design in Fig.21b employs top and bottom plates that need not be optically transparent, allowing the use of e.g. magnetic materials to provide a distributed attractive force between the plates (cf. discussion in connection with Fig.7a above) .
  • the design in Fig.2Ic employs top and bottom plates that are smooth and without holes, an obvious simplification.
  • the positions of the spheres relative to each other and relative to at least one of the sheets is defined by the holes in the sheets and/or via the attached flexible sheet (4) .
  • the embodiments shown in Figs.21a,b,c can span a large range of dimensions.
  • the overall thickness can be made very thin (one millimeter or thinner) .
  • Fig.22 shows an example of an important class of embodiments based on the teachings of the present invention, namely a non-concentrating array of photovoltaic cells that are aligned such that they face the sun and track it throughout the day.
  • the photovoltaic chip (1) is positioned on a pedestal (3) which is attached to a sphere (4) .
  • An array of such spheres is kept in place between two planar sheets (5), (6) that can move laterally relative to each other under the control of a mechanical system (not shown) , causing the spheres to rotate.
  • the photovoltaic cell can be brought to face the incoming sunlight (2) by proper alignment of the two sheets (5), (6) relative to each other. Electrical connections are not shown in this figure. In such cases where no concentration of the incident light takes place but the chip surface is continuously oriented such that its surface normal tracks the sun throughout the day, the light collection efficiency may be increased by more than 30%, compared to a non-tracking photovoltaic chip module.
  • Fig.23 shows an application of the present invention where a tracking array of optical concentrator elements converts solar radiation to thermal energy.
  • Each element in the array (of which only one is shown in the figure) is directed towards the sun and tracks it as it moves across the sky.
  • the incident light (1) is concentrated by means of a parabolic reflector (2) which is mounted on a sphere (3) .
  • the latter is kept in place and subjected to controlled rotation by means of an upper plate (8) and a lower plate (9) that can move laterally relative to each other, and telescopic rods (5), (7) connected with the sphere (4) that connects to the lower plate.
  • a heat collector (6) is located at the bottom of the parabolic reflector (2) .
  • the detailed design of the heat collector may vary widely, and is not shown in Fig.23. Typically, it is covered by an efficient light absorbing material, and may be structured externally for optimal light trapping.
  • a liquid or gaseous coolant is typically circulated through the element, transporting the thermal energy to points outside the array where it can be used in various ways, e.g. to heat water, air, gases, etc.
  • Other types of thermal transport are also possible, e.g. thermal conduction in solid materials or in heat pipes or -wicks. In certain designs very high temperatures can be reached at the focus, which can be used to generate thermophotovoltaic, thermo-electric or thermionic power, re-radiate infrared, etc.
  • flexible conduits for transmitting energy from the collector (6) may be led through holes in the base of the reflector to the space above plate (8), or through openings in the plates (8), (9) to the spaces between the plates or below plate (9) .
  • the telescopic rods (5), (7) may be hollow, providing a channel as shown in Fig.24 and Fig.26.
  • Fig.24 shows an application of the present invention where a tracking array of optical concentrator elements harvests solar energy and transmits it in the form of optical radiation to points of use inside or outside the array:
  • Light (13) is concentrated by a lens (1) onto the tip of an optical fiber (18) located near the focal point (21) .
  • the light is guided through an optical fiber (18) from the focal point (21) to the point of use.
  • the mechanical components of the pointing array are as described in conjunction with Fig.19, i.e. the sphere (4) rolls in a circular hole (6) in the upper plate (8) and a hollow rod (7) can slide inside the hollow tube extension (5) that is fixed on the sphere (4) .
  • the rod (7) is attached to the lower sphere (3) which can roll in a circular hole (11) in the lower plate (9) .
  • (17) indicates the presence of an optical filter in the light path, which may be employed in cases where it is desirable to modify the spectral content of the captured light, e.g. by removing ultraviolet or infrared radiation that may cause damage or reduce efficiency of the illuminated components.
  • the filter may be incorporated into the structure as shown or may be integrated into the lens, a protective cover, etc in ways that are well known to the skilled person.
  • Light that is carried by the optical fiber can be put to use in several ways, e.g. electrical power generation and lighting.
  • An example of the former is given in Fig.24, where light (14) tapped from the end of the optical fiber (15) shines on the photosensitive surface of a photovoltaic device (10) . Electrical power is extracted via the electrical leads (12) .
  • An example of the latter is indicated by the detail (16) in Fig.24 showing an alternative fiber direction leading to a remote luminaire (not shown) .
  • the present invention allows for many types of lighting applications .
  • One implementation is shown in Fig.25 where the embodiment illustrated in Fig.24 is complemented by a mirror-image light emitting array at the other end of the optical fiber or light guide.
  • Each of the receiving and emitting arrays has its own tracking system, allowing them to operate independently.
  • Light from the sun is tracked and captured by the lens (Ia) , and transported via the fiber (18) and through the trough (2b) to the opposite lens (Ib) , wherefrom it is beamed out as unconcentrated light.
  • the direction of this lens (Ib) can be controlled electronically, e.g. by remote control, allowing a single or an array of similar lenses to display sunlight wherever preferred, e.g. inside dark rooms in housing, etc. and in whatever direction.
  • This system only works during direct sunlight.
  • This directional lighting system may still be used after sunset, by placing another light source at the focal-point of the first lens system (6a), e.g. LED, and guiding the light through the optical fiber (18) to the second lens system (Ib) , from where it is beamed out in any selected direction.
  • another light source at the focal-point of the first lens system (6a), e.g. LED, and guiding the light through the optical fiber (18) to the second lens system (Ib) , from where it is beamed out in any selected direction.
  • a major aspect of the present invention is that it becomes possible to install tracking energy collectors in flat, slim panels that can be easily built into building facades, roofs, etc., and to deliver electrical power at prices that can compete with traditional grid power. This can have profound consequences, leading to a much higher level of integration between solar energy collectors and total energy management in buildings than has hitherto been practical.
  • FIG.26 shows a cross section through a tracking solar concentrator array according to the present invention, configured so as to fit within the form factor of a flat solar panel.
  • Two plates (1), (2) can move laterally to align three sets of concentrator units (3) anchored by ball joints (4), (5) which are connected by hollow stems (6) .
  • the concentrator units (3) focus sunlight onto a photovoltaic cell (7) .
  • the cells (7) are actively cooled by an airflow as shown by the broken lines (8) .
  • a motor-driven fan (9) draws air into the chamber (9), and the resulting slight overpressure forces air through the hollow stems, impinging on the cells (7) before exiting into the space above plate (1) .
  • the fan may be supplanted by externally provided over- or underpressure.
  • Fig.27 shows how tracking solar arrays according to the present invention can be integrated in the form of flat panels into the wall and the roof of a house.
  • One of the panels (1) forms part of the roof. It has a transparent weather-resistant outer sheet (2) and is a modular part of the roofing itself.
  • Incident sunlight (3) is transmitted into the panel and strikes array elements (4) which are oriented optimally towards the sun and contain photovoltaic cells that convert light into electricity.
  • an internal fan (not shown) circulates cooling air through the panel, drawing in air and exhausting it through the vents (5), (6) .
  • the other panel (7) forms a modular part of one of the walls in the house.
  • this one also has a transparent weather-resistant outer sheet (2) and array elements (4) which are oriented optimally towards the sun and contain photovoltaic cells that convert light into electricity.
  • a coolant gas which may be e.g. air or argon is brought to circulate through the panel by means of over- or underpressure created by a module (8) positioned elsewhere in the house and communicating via ducts (9) .
  • a gas other than air it shall in most cases be desirable to recirculate the coolant gas in a closed system.
  • the thermal energy from the panel is brought to a heat exchanger in the module (8), where the circulating gas can be cooled down and the thermal energy extracted.
  • the heat may be distributed throughout the house to provide area heating, or it may be stored in a thermal reservoir for later use.
  • a heat pump in (8) the temperature can be boosted at moderate energy expenditure. This makes possible heat storage at elevated temperature in high efficiency reservoirs employing latent heat or chemical transformation. Other types of applications may also become possible at high temperature, e.g. thermal generation of electricity. Further variations are possible, as can be appreciated by persons skilled in the art. What is clear is that not only the photovoltaically useful spectral components in solar radiation can be captured for practical use, but a very large part of the total incident power.
  • tracking solar arrays according to the present invention may be motivated by low cost, low profile, high wind resistance, etc as previously described.
  • a tracker on a moving platform such as a vehicle or a floating structure, in which case the slewing capability of the tracker must be much higher.
  • Figs. 28 a,b where tracking arrays are mounted on the roof of a car and on the roof and side of a boat. As the car follows a winding road and the boat moves through waves and alters its course, the tracking must be able to follow quickly in order to avoid losing its tracking locking, hence the importance of agility.
  • the present invention is especially well suited in implementations where solar energy collectors are to be integrated into stationary structures such as the walls and roof of a house, where a flat, low profile architecture is required, and where the light capture area shall be covered with an array of small solar energy collectors where each is actively oriented such that it always points directly towards the sun.
  • Fig.29 is shown one element in an array: This element is tracking such that the optical axis (11) points towards the sun.
  • Light is captured by the front end optics (2) and focused to a small spot at the entrance (3) to a light-trapping structure (10) .
  • the light-trapping structure is a cavity with a small hole where light can enter, and with walls that can absorb and/or reflect light.
  • a light ray (1) that enters the cavity may be reflected again and again from the walls in the cavity, but has a low probability of escaping through the entrance hole since the latter constitutes a very small part of the entire wall area in the cavity.
  • almost all light that enters into the cavity is ultimately absorbed in the walls.
  • the main object is to maximize the interaction between the light that enters the cavity and selected areas on the walls of the cavity where the photovoltaic material is. As shall now be described, this can be achieved in different ways:
  • the cavity has the shape of a rectangular prism with six walls labelled 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 as indicated in Fig.29.
  • the ray (1) After passing the entrance hole (3) the ray (1) first strikes the wall (5) . Light that is not absorbed in this first encounter is reflected downwards, subsequently bouncing off surfaces (6), (4), (5) , etc. After a sufficient number of reflections, the ray shall escape through the hole (3), but by this time most of its energy has been spent. Thus, if all of the internal walls were covered by photovoltaic material, nearly all of the initial energy shall be absorbed in the photovoltaic material and a high conversion efficiency is achieved.
  • Fig.29 the walls of the cavity are shown as specularly reflecting. This needs not always be the case. As long as the ratio between the area of the entrance hole (3) and the total internal wall area of the cavity is a small number, one or more diffusely reflecting walls may still be used to re-direct light onto a photovoltaic- covered surface inside the cavity, provided the total hemispheric reflection coefficient is high. However, in certain applications, specular reflection shall be preferred since it can provide a higher degree of predictability and control.
  • a light trapping structure as the one shown in Fig.29 can be used to enhance the absorption in photovoltaic cells that otherwise would lose much of their conversion efficiency potential through reflection.
  • the tandem cell concept is well known in the art, and is illustrated in Fig.30. Briefly, it implies allowing incident sunlight to interact initially with a first photovoltaic cell (1) of high bandgap which makes efficient use of the high energy (short wavelength) photons (2) .
  • the below-bandgap photons which are not absorbed are allowed to exit this first cell and enter a second photovoltaic cell (3) behind it, which typically forms a stacked, e.g. monolithic sandwich structure together with the first cell as shown in Fig.30.
  • This second cell has a lower bandgap, and can thus absorb the low-energy (long wavelength) photons (4) to generate electrical power.
  • the two cells in a tandem arrangement can achieve a higher total conversion ratio than a single cell with a single bandgap, where a trade-off must be made between losing below-bandgaps photons when selecting a high bandgap on the one hand and squandering photon energy to heat when selecting a low bandgap on the other hand.
  • the basic idea of the two-cell tandem can be extended to encompass more than two different bandgap materials positioned in sequence behind each other, and very high conversion efficiencies have been achieved by light transmission through stacks of lower-and-lower bandgap photovoltaic materials.
  • a tracking concentrator/light trapping architecture of the basic form shown in Fig.29 provides new opportunities for constructing very high efficiency tandem-type solar cells:
  • PV(I) and PV (2) have different bandgaps and are complementary in the sense that they form a photovoltaic tandem pair, i.e.: much of the light which is not absorbed by the higher-bandgap
  • PV(I) shall be absorbed if allowed to strike the lower- bandgap PV (2) .
  • the ray (1) is shown to strike cell (5) first. If this cell contains a PV(I) type material and is backed by a light-reflecting electrode, the light which is below the bandgap for this material shall be reflected via the bottom wall (7) and onto the cell (6) containing PV(2) material.
  • the light that passed through cell PV(I) can now be absorbed and produce electric power. Any above-bandgap light that is reflected from photovoltaic cells in the cavity without being absorbed in a first pass is recirculated by multiple reflections inside the cavity, improving the overall conversion efficiency as described above.
  • Fig.31a the light ray (1) is directed by the lens (2) towards the entrance hole (3) in the tandem cavity (8) .
  • a first, high bandgap photovoltaic cell (5) covers the wall opposite the entrance hole, whereby the entering light shall always strike cell (5) first.
  • Light that is not absorbed in cell (5) is reflected towards a second, low bandgap photovoltaic cell or set of cells (4) located on the opposite wall where the entrance hole is.
  • the sidewalls (6), (7) and other sidewalls are highly reflecting surfaces that aid in recirculating light that is not absorbed during the first pass on the photovoltaic cells.
  • Fig.31b shows another variant of a tandem cavity:
  • the light ray (1) is directed by the lens (2) towards the entrance hole (3) in the tandem cavity (8).
  • a first, high bandgap photovoltaic cell (5) covers the wall opposite the entrance hole, whereby the entering light shall always strike cell (5) first.
  • the wall is slanting to the side such that all incoming light is directed onto cell (5) at a larger average angle of incidence than was the case in Fig.31a (this is beneficial in certain cases, as shall be discussed later) .
  • Light that is not absorbed in cell (5) is reflected towards a second, low bandgap photovoltaic cell (4) located on the opposite wall.
  • the sidewalls (6), (7) and other sidewalls are highly reflecting surfaces that aid in recirculating light that is not absorbed during the first pass on the photovoltaic cells. As can be ascertained by tracing a set of different rays through the lens and entrance hole, all of the light captured by the lens shall strike the cell (5), (4) combination in the correct order, and light loss by multiply reflected, non-absorbed light that exits through the entrance opening (3) can be made negligible by proper choice of hole and cavity dimensions.
  • Figs. 31a,b can be varied in a large number of ways , whereby the combined principles of solar tracking, light trapping and tandem cells shall make possible the construction of photovoltaic solar energy conversion devices with very high conversion efficiencies. This shall become even more evident through the description which follows, where it is disclosed how the large fraction of glancing (high incidence angle) illumination of the photovoltaic cells that is typical in many of the described light trapping architectures can be crucial for boosting performance when thin-film photovoltaic cells are used:
  • FIG.32 shows a simplified principle drawing of an organic-based thin-film solar cell: A thin film of an organic photovoltaic material (1) is sandwiched between an electrode (2) made from a transparent, high work function material such as Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) , and a metallic electrode (3) made from a low work function material such as aluminum. Electrical leads (4), (5) carry power from the cell to an external circuit. Light enters the cell through the transparent ITO and is partly absorbed in the thin film of organic photovoltaic material. The non-absorbed light strikes the reflecting back electrode and makes a return pass through the photovoltaic material.
  • ITO Indium Tin Oxide
  • electromagnetic radiation is not absorbed in a film on a metal surface if: a) The film thickness is much less than the radiation wavelength, and: b) The metal is a very good electrical conductor, and: c) The incident electromagnetic radiation has no electric field (E-field) component perpendicular to the surface. Freely propagating electromagnetic waves such as sunlight have their E-field perpendicular to the ray direction. As the light strikes the surface of a very good electrical conductor, any component of the E-field parallel to the surface must form a zero node there. Since it is the E- field component in the light that causes the absorption in the thin film, it follows that significant absorption shall only be obtained if the illumination configuration is chosen correctly.
  • E-field electric field
  • the reflected light beam shall be depleted somewhat by absorption in the thin film, but this depletion shall mostly affect the p- polarized component of the light.
  • the light ray that impinges upon the cell (6) shall be further depleted in the p- polarized component of the light upon reflection from the left wall.
  • the trapped light shall be more and more polarized, and only half of the light or less shall ultimately be absorbed in the thin- film cells. This is of course an extreme scenario. In practice, there are several reasons known to persons skilled in the art why the reflection from each cell and each mirroring cavity wall shall induce polarization change.
  • the ray (1) shown in Fig.29 is only one of a bundle of rays diverging in different directions towards the walls in the cavity, and many of these can be traced to show that even in the right angled prismatic cavity of Fig.29 there shall be significant polarization mixing and absorption in thin-film cells.
  • One class of .preferred embodiments is based on geometric design of the light trapping cavity: An example of this is is shown in Fig.34, where cavity walls are mutually positioned at skew angles in the shape of a pyramid to promote polarization mixing.
  • (1) is the concentrating optics
  • (2) is a light ray
  • (3) is the entrance hole into the light trapping cavity
  • (4) , (5) are two of the external walls of the light trapping cavity.
  • Another class of preferred embodiments is to promote polarization mixing by means of birefringent elements in the cavity, e.g. as coating on the walls
  • Yet another class of preferred embodiments is to position the thin-film photovoltaic material outside node regions by employing transparent spacer electrodes of lower conductivity between the thin- film photovoltaic material and the metallic electrodes.
  • the cavities in Figs.29, 31a,b and 34 can be created in a number of ways, e.g. by assembling a set of flat tiles to form cavity walls with the appropriate qualities.
  • preferred embodiments of the present invention include cavities consisting of a monolith made from glass, plastic or another transparent material.
  • the photovoltaic cells are in this case coated onto the outer walls of the monolith, or discrete cells are positioned in optical contact to these walls.
  • Light that shall be admitted into the cavity can be controlled by small-area optical elements or coatings at the entrance hole, e.g. a shortpass heat rejection filter and/or an antireflection coating. Since the photovoltaic cells are illuminated by direct contact with the transparent medium in the cavity which has an index of refraction >> 1.0, reflection losses shall in most cases be small. This is especially important in light trapping situations with grazing incidence
  • Reflection and projection of light from array- Fig.35a shows a flat panel (1) containing an array of flat mirrors (2) that are aligned parallel to each other and can point and track in parallel by mechanical means as taught in the present invention.
  • Near-collimated light (3) such as sunlight which falls upon the array is reflected as multiple parallel beams' (4) in a direction determined by the instantaneous position of the mirrors in the array.
  • the reflected light is directed onto another object (5) , which may be, e.g. a flat solar energy collector panel which generates electricity, thermal power or both.
  • another object (5) which may be, e.g. a flat solar energy collector panel which generates electricity, thermal power or both.
  • one or more energy collectors of the photovoltaic or thermal type may be positioned within line of sight from mirror arrays that either redirect sunlight that illuminates them directly or relay light from yet other mirror arrays.
  • mirror arrays can be placed in sunny locations that otherwise would not be accessible or economically attractive for placement of photovoltaic or thermal energy converters, and form part of a solar energy harvesting system that covers large areas .
  • Owners of locations with good insolation may sell solar power from mirror arrays on their properties and direct reflected power onto energy converters owned by their customers .
  • the photovoltaic or thermal converter may be static, e.g. of the flat plate type, or a concentrator which is direction sensitive. In the latter case, the receiver must re-direct itself during the switching from one mirror source to another, and may select which mirror source to collect energy from.
  • the mirror array (2) automatically adjusts its pointing direction such that the reflected light still is directed onto object (5) .
  • feedback control in closed loop shall generally be preferred in the present context due to the inherent flexibility and reliability:
  • Fig.35a One method involving feedback control in a closed loop is indicated schematically in Fig.35a, for the case where the object (5) is a solar photovoltaic panel:
  • the instantaneous power generated in the panel is detected, and a signal encoder (6) generates a signal which carries information about the power level.
  • the signal is fed back on a wired or wireless link (7) to logic circuitry (8) in the mirror array panel (1) which controls servos linked to the mirror array.
  • small scale angular dithering of the mirror array may be used in conjunction with lock-in detection of the signal received on the link (7) in Fig.35a.
  • optimization of the pointing direction of each array can in this case be achieved by having each array dither at a different frequency.
  • one array at a time is optimized while the others remain stationary.
  • one or more photodetectors are located on or around the nominal reflection spot centroid position on the photovoltaic panel, and the signals carrying information on the light level are fed to the signal encoder (6) in Fig.35a.
  • three or more photodetectors are located on the perimeter of the photovoltaic panel, whereby an imbalance in power levels between the photodetectors develops if the reflection light spot strays from a center position.
  • Different types of logic schemes for optimizing the position of the reflection light spot on the photovoltaic panel in these applications are possible but are not described here, being known to persons skilled in the art .
  • a different method involving feedback control in a closed loop employs a retroreflecting mirror positioned near the center of the photovoltaic panel, as shown in Fig.35b:
  • Each of the reflector arrays (Ia)-(Ic) captures a portion of incident sunlight (3) and reflects it as bundles of light (4) that converge upon the photovoltaic panel (5) .
  • a retroreflector e.g. in the form of a corner cube (6) as shown in the cut-out detail, is located in the center of the panel, and returns light onto photosensors (7a) -(7c) positioned near the center of each reflector array.
  • the reflection light spot is centered on the retroreflector on the photovoltaic panel, and a directed light beam (8a)-
  • the mirror array (1) in Fig.35a may in many cases be viewed as equivalent to a single large flat mirror which redirects incoming light onto the object (5), and the light flux density at (5) can at most approach the incident flux density upon the mirror array.
  • a concentration of flux density is achieved, cf . Fig.35b and Fig.36.
  • Important applications of flux concentration include energy harvesting from sunlight, both by direct thermal means and by the generation of electricity: In the former case, it is generally desired to heat a working fluid to elevated temperatures or to vaporize it.
  • the cost per m 2 of reflecting surface in a mirror array shall typically be much less than that of a photovoltaic solar panel (especially when total installation cost of the latter is considered) , and conversion efficiency is typically enhanced when the light intensity is increased. If a photovoltaic solar panel ((5) in Fig. 35 b and Fig. 36) has already been installed, it can be enhanced by mounting mirror arrays within lines of sight at very low cost per added watt.
  • the distance between the receiving solar panel and individual mirror arrays may differ within wide limits, with maximum distances being determined by mirror parameters (flatness, diffraction, pointing accuracy) , non-perfect collimation of sunlight and other factors well known to persons skilled in the art of optics, as well as practical issues related to the concrete situation in each case. If the approximate distance is known a priori, the individual mirrors in the array can be selected to have a size and surface shape (e.g. slightly concave) which yields optimal illumination of the target.
  • Fig.36 shows a configuration which is a special case of that discussed in conjunction with Fig.35a:
  • Multiple mirror arrays (Ia)-(Id) according to the present invention illuminate a common target, in this case a photovoltaic array (6) covering the lower part of a support panel (5) which is mounted on a pedestal (7) .
  • Incoming parallel bundles of light rays (3a) -(3d) are reflected in parallel beam sets (4a) -(4d) from sets of tilted mirrors (2a) -(2d) and impinge on the photovoltaic array (6) .
  • Alignment and tracking issues are similar to those discussed in conjunction with Fig.35a.
  • a concentration of power density occurs which in principle may reach very high levels, depending on the number of reflector arrays and configuration.
  • a well-known problem in concentrating solar photovoltaic systems is the temperature rise due to dissipation of solar radiation that is not converted to electricity. In addition to the possible thermal damage in the photovoltaic cell and surroundings, high temperatures typically reduce the power conversion efficiency, and active or passive cooling is generally required to avoid this.
  • the individual mirrors in the pointing array e.g.
  • mirrors (2a-2d) in Fig.36 can be prepared in such a way that only those "useful" spectral components in the sunlight that contribute efficiently to electrical power generation in the photovoltaic array (e.g. (6) in Fig.36) are reflected.
  • a protective window covering the pointing array (not shown in Fig.36) can be prepared such that it selectively transmits the "useful" spectral components while other spectral components are absorbed and/or reflected. In the latter case, reflection from the protective window shall not strike the photovoltaic array, since the array mirrors are generally tilted to some degree from normal reflection in order for the reflected light to strike the photovoltaic array.
  • the concept of concentration by the use of multiple reflector arrays provides great flexibility. It is simple to upgrade an existing system by addition of more reflector arrays, and reflector arrays can be located at positions having different distances and line-of-sight angles, to accommodate local situations. Additional simplicity and flexibility can be achieved by employing free-standing reflector arrays, i.e. units that operate completely without external wiring:
  • the electrical power requirements in each reflector array consist of one component performing mechanical alignment of the mirrors and another component performing communication and logic functions. In systems based on the present invention, this power is typically orders of magnitude lower than the solar energy illuminating the array, and can easily be provided by a photovoltaic panel taking up a small area of the reflector array in conjunction with a small back-up battery.
  • Wireless communication between the target and each reflector array as indicated in Fig. 35 shall be short range and can be set up by means of a number of well-established communication modes including infrared and radiofrequency communication in "free" (i .e. unregulated) bands.
  • infrared and radiofrequency communication in "free" (i .e. unregulated) bands.
  • free i .e. unregulated bands.
  • the complete absence of any external wiring makes it possible to create new types of systems, e.g. reflector arrays within sealed enclosures such as double glazing cavities.
  • Fig.37 shows an example where the generic configuration of Fig.7a is used in a reflector arrangement:
  • a set of spheres (3) are kept in place between an upper sheet (1) and a lower sheet (2) , e.g. by magnetic means as discussed in conjunction with Fig.7a.
  • friction between the spheres and the lower sheet causes the spheres to rotate in parallel, sliding in the holes in the upper sheet.
  • Each sphere carries a mirror (5) on a pedestal (4), and incoming light (6) is reflected from the mirrors as shown.
  • Fig.38a shows an embodiment similar to that in Fig.37.
  • (1) and (2) are upper and lower sheets that can translate relative to each other, and (3) are spheres that roll between the sheets.
  • each sphere has a flat, mirroring part (4) which reflects incoming light (5) .
  • the mirroring area and maximum deflection angle are typically less than what can be achieved with the arrangement in Fig.37, but implementation is generally much simpler.
  • the flat portion of each sphere can be made after round spheres have been assembled between two sheets, by keeping the sheets immobile while grinding the tops of the protruding spheres in the upper sheet against a flat grinding surface, followed by a polishing step.
  • Fig.38b shows yet another similar embodiment: Again, (1) and (2) are sheets that can translate relative to each other. Each sphere (3) has a thin, transparent wall and carries a mirror (4) inside which is fixed to the sphere and rotates with it. Incident light (5) enters the sphere, is reflected from the mirror inside and exits again as shown. For simplicity, details of the wall and reflection/refraction at the wall are not shown. As is clear to the person skilled in the art, equivalent variants of this example are possible, e.g. spheres that are massive below the mirror. Comparing with the case shown in Fig.38a, larger mirroring areas and deflection angles are achievable, at somewhat increased cost in complexity.
  • the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 38a, b provide interesting opportunities for making very thin devices with directional reflection control.
  • the overall thickness may be made in the millimeter to micron range, and required translation range for full scan shall be correspondingly small.
  • This in turn allows for the use of small-range, low power translation transducers employing, e.g. electrostriction or piezoelectric effects.
  • the devices When the devices are very thin, they must be kept in the desired shape by being adhered to a reference surface, e.g. a flat solid, or by being stretched in a frame.
  • Flexible, very thin sheet-like embodiments can be adhered conformally to non-flat surfaces, e.g. parabolic surfaces, to provide means for actively correcting or modifying the reflective properties of the latter.
  • flexible very thin sheet-like embodiments can be rolled up and deployed in applications where this proves important- or useful.
  • Fig.39 shows an example of a free-space light beam relaying and switching system.
  • sunlight (2) is captured by a mirror array (1) mounted on the roof of a building and directed into the house through a skylight (3) .
  • the latter is shown as an unprotected opening, but shall typically be a window of some kind.
  • the light beam (11) is directed by relay mirror arrays (4), (5), (6), (7) to the region (10) that is to be illuminated.
  • Other types of relay optics known to persons skilled in the art may be employed to correct or modify the light beam characteristics as it travels through the house, e.g. a lens pair (8) which enables a wide collimated beam to pass through a small aperture, or to change its width.
  • the mirror elements in the array (1) adjust their pointing direction so that the light beam continues to strike array (2) .
  • the downstream arrays (2), (3), (4) etc may take part in fine tuning the path of the light for optimal light transmission through the relay system. More generally they can be used as switching elements to direct the light to different locations. In Fig.39 this is illustrated by the beam shown by broken lines (12), which results when the pointing direction of array (5) is changed from that used to reflect the beam (11) .
  • the beam (12) strikes a fixed mirror (13) which directs the beam onto a luminaire (14), i.e. an optical system which acts as a lamp fixture and distributes the light for illumination of the area (15) .
  • the mirror array (7) can function as an active luminaire which can direct light in different directions as desired by the user (16), cf. the alternative lighting direction shown by the broken lines (17) .
  • Such arrangements can have many specialized uses, e.g. tracking persons who move about within a room.
  • the basic ideas illustrated in Fig.39 can be applied in many other contexts.
  • the systems may be employed in locales other than buildings, such as in outdoor environments, tunnels, etc, and the light source may be artificial rather than sunlight.
  • pointing mirror arrays can form routing components in optical relay systems used for free-space optical data transmission.
  • the reflectors may be optimized for a variety of radiation types, e.g. infrared or microwave.
  • An important class of embodiments of the present invention concerns projecting light that is generated in or routed into elements in a pointing array.
  • the light can be directed in specific directions for a variety of purposes, including illumination of limited areas, marking/ tagging of moving persons, vehicles, etc, and directional displays. Certain preferred embodiments shall now be described:
  • Fig.40 shows part of an emissive array where near- collimated light (1) is emitted from multiple pointing elements (2) as parallel light beams.
  • the direction of the light beams is determined by the relative positions of sheets (3) and (4), cf. the description of the mechanically similar system in Fig.26.
  • Each element contains a light source (5) positioned near the focal point of a lens (6), thus causing collimation of the light.
  • Each light source is connected to a power source (7) by a set of wires (8) . If the light sources (5) in all pointing elements (2) are activated in the same way from the power source (7), the wiring can be much simplified by using common leads and only a single power connection to the power source.
  • the array can act as a pointing searchlight or beacon in a flat package. This can be particularly useful where a low profile is required, e.g. in various types of vehicles or in buildings, and may enable novel applications.
  • tracking illumination that follows a person in selected locales may be mounted flush into walls or ceilings, and lighting panels with directivity that varies throughout the day or according to circumstances may be integrated into homes, workplaces or public spaces.
  • the array shown in Fig.40 can act as a display where each element (2) constitutes one pixel as seen from afar.
  • the resolution and information content of the display shall depend on the number and properties of the elements in the array, as is well known in the art.
  • the display shall have certain unusual characteristics which can be important in some applications : a) Extreme brightness. Viewers located in the direction where the array is pointing shall observe a very high apparent brightness, which may permit reliable reading of displayed messages in situations where an ordinary array would be overwhelmed by other light sources . b) Selective viewing. Only observers within the projected light bundle shall be able to see the message. This may be useful when it is desired to single out a specific group of viewers amongst many, or when it is desired to avoid disturbing people located in certain directions as seen from the array.
  • the light source may be of any type that permits collimation of light by an optical system, i.e. preferably of high intensity and small physical size. It may generate light in situ e.g. luminescent, incandescent, gas discharge, laser, or it may be the emitting end of a light guide, e.g. an optical fiber that is fed light at its other end.
  • the collimating optics may be refractive, reflective, diftractive or a combination of these, etc.
  • the mechanics controlling the pointing function may be of any type within the scope of the present patent.
  • FIG.41 An example is shown in Fig.41, where 12 individual array panels (11) -(34) are arranged in a 2-dimensional matrix.
  • a motor (1) translates the shafts (Yl) -(Y3) in the y direction, and a motor (2) translates the shafts (Xl) -(X4) in the x direction.
  • an x-motion linkage is connected to one of the shafts (Xl) -(X4) such that a translation in the shaft causes an array tilt in the x direction.
  • an y-motion linkage in each panel is connected to one of the shafts (Yl)-(Y3) such that a translation in the shaft causes an array tilt in the y direction.
  • each panel may have a force or torque transmitting member traversing it, ending in mechanical coupling points on opposite sides where linkages can be attached for transmitting force or torque to neighboring panels.
  • the different panels (11) -(34) can be addressed matrix-wise such that they point in separate directions .
  • Fig.36 One example of where this would be necessary is shown in Fig.36, where different panels of mirror arrays are required to adjust mirror angles in different ways.
  • the linkage of each panel in Fig.41 to the x- and y-drive can be enabled or disabled via an x-and a y-clutch (not shown) .

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Abstract

L'invention porte sur un système de suivi du soleil incorporé dans un emballage plat qui ne présente aucun mouvement mécanique à l'extérieur de ses dimensions, et qui peut être intégré de façon compacte dans une position fixe dans des murs, des toits, etc., de bâtiments ou dans des structures autoporteuses. En plus de la collecte d'énergie solaire pour la génération d'électricité, l'invention peut être utilisée pour collecter et transmettre de l'énergie solaire pour des applications de chauffage et d'éclairage. L'invention emploie un réseau de pointage à multiples éléments comprenant au moins deux éléments à direction critique, capables de recevoir et/ou de transmettre un rayonnement électromagnétique ou acoustique, chaque élément dans le réseau étant apte à présenter un mouvement de pointage et/ou d'alignement par rotation suivant un, deux ou trois axes, et se déplace de façon synchronisée avec d'autres éléments dans le réseau, au moins deux desdits éléments étant directement ou indirectement reliés à au moins deux structures physiques qui peuvent translater et/ou tourner l'une par rapport à l'autre.
PCT/NO2009/000072 2009-03-02 2009-03-02 Dispositif à multiples éléments Ceased WO2010101468A1 (fr)

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Cited By (21)

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WO2012125751A2 (fr) 2011-03-14 2012-09-20 Thermata, Inc. Appareil et procédé pour le pointage de sources de lumière
DE102012209003A1 (de) * 2012-05-29 2013-12-05 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Photovoltaik-Anlage mit Justage-Elementen zum Einstellen eines Einfallswinkels elektromagnetischer Strahlung auf Photovoltaik-Zellen der Photovoltaik-Anlage, Verfahren zum Einstellen des Einfallswinkels sowie Verwendung der Photovoltaik-Anlage
WO2014005626A1 (fr) * 2012-07-03 2014-01-09 Staubli, Kurath & Partner Ag Module d'installation solaire flottant et installation solaire correspondante
WO2011140564A3 (fr) * 2010-05-07 2014-03-27 Abl Ip Holding, Llc Luminaire ayant des sources de lumière de zone non découvertes
ITPG20130035A1 (it) * 2013-08-01 2015-02-02 Headway Srl Sistema di illuminazione a luce solare
US8981201B2 (en) 2011-08-15 2015-03-17 Morgan Solar Inc. Self-ballasted apparatus for solar tracking
WO2015055302A1 (fr) * 2013-10-15 2015-04-23 Fachhochschule Aachen Dispositif permettant de faire réfléchir une lumière incidente
EP2771614A4 (fr) * 2011-10-25 2015-11-18 Univ British Columbia Réseaux de miroirs de redirection de la lumière du soleil
WO2017011732A1 (fr) 2015-07-16 2017-01-19 The Arizona Board Of Regents On Behalf Of The University Of Arizona Interligne réseau à commande de phase pour antenne à réflecteur
US9606340B2 (en) 2012-01-24 2017-03-28 Solarreserve Technology, Llc. Compound optical proxy for sensing and pointing of light sources
EP2682338A3 (fr) * 2012-07-04 2018-02-21 TNC Consulting AG Installation de collecte d'énergie adaptée à l'hiver
US9910156B2 (en) 2012-06-30 2018-03-06 Solarreserve Technology, Llc Using optical proxy light to aim redirected light at a target using heliostats
US9939177B2 (en) 2011-03-14 2018-04-10 Solarreserve Technology, Llc Optical proxy for sensing and pointing of light sources
US9964269B2 (en) 2014-06-12 2018-05-08 The University Of British Columbia Light distribution systems and methods
WO2019006569A1 (fr) * 2017-07-03 2019-01-10 Universidad De Chile Système de production de nanotubes de carbone à partir de matière carbonée, de préférence des déchets plastiques et de l'énergie solaire; procédé de production correspondant
CN109916097A (zh) * 2019-02-14 2019-06-21 浙江中控太阳能技术有限公司 一种定日镜超声波校正系统及方法
WO2021166666A1 (fr) * 2020-02-21 2021-08-26 住友電気工業株式会社 Dispositif de production d'énergie photovoltaïque et système de production d'énergie photovoltaïque
CN114256223A (zh) * 2021-12-22 2022-03-29 山东合创新材料有限公司 一种光伏太阳能用半导体发光二极管
WO2022224122A1 (fr) * 2021-04-18 2022-10-27 Danavis Limited Concentrateur solaire réglable
DE102021204667A1 (de) 2021-05-07 2022-11-10 Roto Frank Dachsystem-Technologie GmbH Lichtführende Gebäudeeinbaueinrichtung für ein Gebäude, Gebäudeeinbauanordnung für ein Gebäude sowie entsprechendes Gebäude
CN116231751A (zh) * 2023-02-21 2023-06-06 华能新疆吉木萨尔新能源有限公司 一种光伏发电输出功率控制策略

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WO2011140564A3 (fr) * 2010-05-07 2014-03-27 Abl Ip Holding, Llc Luminaire ayant des sources de lumière de zone non découvertes
WO2012125751A2 (fr) 2011-03-14 2012-09-20 Thermata, Inc. Appareil et procédé pour le pointage de sources de lumière
US9939177B2 (en) 2011-03-14 2018-04-10 Solarreserve Technology, Llc Optical proxy for sensing and pointing of light sources
EP2686620A4 (fr) * 2011-03-14 2014-11-26 Solarreserve Llc Appareil et procédé pour le pointage de sources de lumière
US9910127B2 (en) 2011-03-14 2018-03-06 Solarreserve Technology, Llc Apparatus and method for pointing light sources
AU2012229906B2 (en) * 2011-03-14 2016-11-17 Solarreserve Technology, Llc Apparatus and method for pointing light sources
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EP2771614A4 (fr) * 2011-10-25 2015-11-18 Univ British Columbia Réseaux de miroirs de redirection de la lumière du soleil
US9606340B2 (en) 2012-01-24 2017-03-28 Solarreserve Technology, Llc. Compound optical proxy for sensing and pointing of light sources
DE102012209003A1 (de) * 2012-05-29 2013-12-05 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Photovoltaik-Anlage mit Justage-Elementen zum Einstellen eines Einfallswinkels elektromagnetischer Strahlung auf Photovoltaik-Zellen der Photovoltaik-Anlage, Verfahren zum Einstellen des Einfallswinkels sowie Verwendung der Photovoltaik-Anlage
US9910156B2 (en) 2012-06-30 2018-03-06 Solarreserve Technology, Llc Using optical proxy light to aim redirected light at a target using heliostats
WO2014005626A1 (fr) * 2012-07-03 2014-01-09 Staubli, Kurath & Partner Ag Module d'installation solaire flottant et installation solaire correspondante
EP2682338A3 (fr) * 2012-07-04 2018-02-21 TNC Consulting AG Installation de collecte d'énergie adaptée à l'hiver
ITPG20130035A1 (it) * 2013-08-01 2015-02-02 Headway Srl Sistema di illuminazione a luce solare
WO2015055302A1 (fr) * 2013-10-15 2015-04-23 Fachhochschule Aachen Dispositif permettant de faire réfléchir une lumière incidente
EP3058286B1 (fr) * 2013-10-15 2019-03-13 Fachhochschule Aachen Dispositif permettant de faire réfléchir une lumière incidente
US9784477B2 (en) 2013-10-15 2017-10-10 Fachhochschule Aachen Apparatus for reflecting light
US9964269B2 (en) 2014-06-12 2018-05-08 The University Of British Columbia Light distribution systems and methods
JP2018521609A (ja) * 2015-07-16 2018-08-02 アリゾナ ボード オブ リーゲンツ オン ビーハーフ オブ ザ ユニバーシティ オブ アリゾナＡｒｉｚｏｎａ Ｂｏａｒｄ Ｏｆ Ｒｅｇｅｎｔｓ Ｏｎ Ｂｅｈａｌｆ Ｏｆ Ｔｈｅ Ｕｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｙ Ｏｆ Ａｒｉｚｏｎａ 反射鏡アンテナ用のフェーズドアレイ線状給電器
WO2017011732A1 (fr) 2015-07-16 2017-01-19 The Arizona Board Of Regents On Behalf Of The University Of Arizona Interligne réseau à commande de phase pour antenne à réflecteur
EP3322999A4 (fr) * 2015-07-16 2019-03-20 Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona Interligne réseau à commande de phase pour antenne à réflecteur
US10978808B2 (en) 2015-07-16 2021-04-13 Arizona Board Of Regents On Behalf Of The University Of Arizona Phased array line feed for reflector antenna
WO2019006569A1 (fr) * 2017-07-03 2019-01-10 Universidad De Chile Système de production de nanotubes de carbone à partir de matière carbonée, de préférence des déchets plastiques et de l'énergie solaire; procédé de production correspondant
CN109916097A (zh) * 2019-02-14 2019-06-21 浙江中控太阳能技术有限公司 一种定日镜超声波校正系统及方法
WO2021166666A1 (fr) * 2020-02-21 2021-08-26 住友電気工業株式会社 Dispositif de production d'énergie photovoltaïque et système de production d'énergie photovoltaïque
WO2022224122A1 (fr) * 2021-04-18 2022-10-27 Danavis Limited Concentrateur solaire réglable
DE102021204667A1 (de) 2021-05-07 2022-11-10 Roto Frank Dachsystem-Technologie GmbH Lichtführende Gebäudeeinbaueinrichtung für ein Gebäude, Gebäudeeinbauanordnung für ein Gebäude sowie entsprechendes Gebäude
DE102021204667B4 (de) * 2021-05-07 2024-12-24 Roto Frank Dachsystem-Technologie GmbH Lichtführende Gebäudeeinbaueinrichtung für ein Gebäude, Gebäudeeinbauanordnung für ein Gebäude sowie entsprechendes Gebäude
CN114256223A (zh) * 2021-12-22 2022-03-29 山东合创新材料有限公司 一种光伏太阳能用半导体发光二极管
CN116231751A (zh) * 2023-02-21 2023-06-06 华能新疆吉木萨尔新能源有限公司 一种光伏发电输出功率控制策略
CN116231751B (zh) * 2023-02-21 2024-03-08 华能新疆吉木萨尔新能源有限公司 一种光伏发电输出功率控制策略

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