CA1095359A - Solar energy collector - Google Patents
Solar energy collectorInfo
- Publication number
- CA1095359A CA1095359A CA297,806A CA297806A CA1095359A CA 1095359 A CA1095359 A CA 1095359A CA 297806 A CA297806 A CA 297806A CA 1095359 A CA1095359 A CA 1095359A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- cover
- assemblage
- base
- pyramidal
- solar
- 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.)
- Expired
Links
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- Building Environments (AREA)
Abstract
Apparatus for collecting radiant solar energy comprising one or more solar energy collecting assemblies each having an insulated base, sidewalls, a cover with an ordered or random array of a plurality of essentially pyramidal projections and a broad area energy absorber inside a housing defined by the base, sidewalls and cover. The pyramidal projections each comprise some faces transparent to incident solar energy and at least one internally and externally reflective face. The pyramidal configurations and angles of the pyramidal surfaces with respect to the base and the energy absorbing surface are varied depending on usage conditions to provide optimum collection of solar radiation.
Description
3~
BACK~RO~N~ OF THE INVENT~O'N
This inventi~n reIa-tes to an apparatus for collecting radiant solar energy and more particularly to a solar energy collector which can be attached to a surface or structure with h:igh tolerance of direction or angle'of the surface or structure upon which the collector is positioned and of seasonal solar radiation angles. The invention also provides structural rigidity and lightweight construction and capabilities of simple modular construction, of stylish`appearance, and ability to be installed on existing roofs regardless of location or pitch.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTI~N
In accordance with the'present invention, a structural ', assemblage for collection radiant solar energy comprises a base7 sidewalls and a cover with'a plurality of essentially pyramidal outward projections in ordered array or randomly arranged. The pyra~,~dal projections have walls angularly disposed to the mean cover plane.' An energy receiv,ing means of broad area is disposed within a thin volume defined by the base,' cover and sidewalls. The sidewalls may be indepenclent or integral with one or both of the base' or cover. The mean planes of cover, base and absorber are essentially parallel.
The cover projections present a plurality of re-flective and transparent surfaces angularly disposed to the mean cover p~ne to provide for optlmum collection of the radiant eliergy. The reflective'surfaces of some projections are arranged to reflect incident solar energy to penetrate trans-parent surfaces of nearby other projectivns for transmission ' '' - to the energy receiving surface in any direction of solar radiation angle of attack established by installation condi-tions~ ti~le of day, geographic location and season to consis-tently transmit available solar energy at the absorber with high efficiency.
3~i51 ~no-ther important Eeature oE this invention îs ~ha~
the surfaces forming the pyramidal projections of the cover of the collector unit can be varied in size as well as the angular rela-tionship of the surfaces to each other and to the mean pla~.of the cover to provide :Eor maximum collection of radiant energy. The shape of the transparent and reflective suraces of projections is preferably 1at where a pyramidal configuration is employed~ but may be curved. The cover with its projections is preferably integrally formed.
10~ One or more such assemblages may be installed on walls or roof of a residential building or other bui:Lding or other s-tructure. Heat exchange fluid or other energy transfer ~ ~
medium may be drawn from the absorber in a common, per se, ~:
fashion. The assemblage~s) when applied to building walls or roofs are preferably spaced therefrom to provide an air wash space for summer cooling. Special fixtures enable leaktight, secure mounting of the assemblage(s) to buildings or other supporting structures.
i : BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~E DRAWING
FIG. 1 and 2 are cross section views of two embodi-ments o~ the solar collecting structural assemblage of the in- ;
vention, differing in the forms of their base construction, ~ ;
absorbers and mountings;
FIG. 3-5 are top views of three forms of single pyra-midal projections usable in the covers of the FIG. 1-2 embodiments or other embodiments of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a diagram of several angles of wall or roof mounting from 90 to 0 with respect to ve~tical illustrating optimal forms o~ pyramid projection for such anglesj and FIG. 7 is a top view of a typical such cover with many pyramids in ordered a,rray.
:: .
, ~535~
DET~ILED DESCR:LPTION OF PRE~FE`.RR¢D EMBOD~M~N't~
Referring now to FIG. 1, a solar collection st:ructltral assemblage 10 is shown It has a cover 20 having a mean plane indicated at C-C and hollow pyramidal projections 12 with the b<~se lines o~ the walls of each such pyramidal pro-jection essentially in -the mean plane C-C or in a plane parallel thereto. The entire cover is made c~f a single sheet of plastlc molded or cast to provide the projections. Alter-natively though less pre-erred, the cover can be of multi-piece constructions of various forms. Another area of alterna-tive construction is~that flats can be provided between pyramids instead of the preferred dense packing of pyramids shown in FIG. 1.
The assemblage 10 also comprises narrow side walls 30 and a broad base 40 defining together with the cover 20 a slab-form volume 50 in which there is an energy absorber 60 of broad area form. The energy absorber may be a heat transfer fluid conduit of wide tubular construction or a serpentine pipe. It may be a coil of thermoelectric wire or a panel con-taining many photovoltaic cells. That is, the heat transfer medium can be fluid (liquid or gas) or electricity.
The base has a mean plane indicated at B-B. The absorber has a mean plane indicated at A-A. All of the planes ~-A, B-B or C-C are preferably parallel or nearly so.
The base 40 in FIG. 1 is preferably of in~egral con-struction and corrugated for strength. Preferably all of volume 50 is evacuated for thermally insulating the assemblage from conductive or convective heat transfer between the energy absorber and surro~mding amblent. Alternatively, a lower sec-tion be]ow the absorber may be evacuated to insulate the space BS (within the base) only. The corru~ations CR within the base prevent collapse under vacuum. Similarly, the _~_ ;,.
pyramidal projections 12 of cover 20 make it rigid to prevent collapse under vacuum condit iOllS even though cover 20 has a thin cross secti.on thickness to limit solar energy tr~ns~
mission losses. Although less preferred for purposes of -the present invention, volume 50 may be filled with air or other fluid and the base insulation may be provided by increasing its thickness and/or use of low conductivity, low density materials such as styrofoam or other foamed plastics, ~ibrous ` packings (including.fibers or other shredded materials), ::
honeycomb materials, insulation blankets or the like.
The vacuum pumping and vacuum.controlling means used in the base 40 and/or in volume 50 are per se conventional and not shown.
Posts 70 with wide area feet 72 carry the assemblage 10 .
from a supporting structure such as a roof R, creating an air wash space AW under the assemblage 10 for convective flow of air to avoid condensation of water vapor.and for cooling.
. Incident solar radiation is indicated for one time of day by arrows Sl- S2- S3. Some of the radiation penetrates transparent walls 14A and 14B of projections 12A and 12B.
Some of the radiation is reflected off reflective walls 16A
and 16B.of other pyramids 12B. All such radiation strikes . energy absorber 60 uniformly over its broad area at optimum angles of attack (preferably within 30-60 to the heat ex-changer mean plane~ for efficient absorption.
The reflectiveness of pyramidal walls 16A, 16B and the like, may be simply the natural reflectiveness such walls have when in relation to the sun as shown in FIG. 1 or such reflectiveness may be supplemenked by reflective coatings applied to the interior and/or exterior of such walls.
FI~. 2 shows a solar collec~or assemblage 80 ~lich differs from assemblage 10 of FIG. 1 in that the insulated base ~53~
~2 comprises a thin shell 46 conta;ning a low clens:ity in~
sula~ing material 46 such as a foam or a fibrous packing, The shell has a sidewall undercut channel 48 and a flange 4~ ~or slidably mating with elongated mountlng brackets 74, The brackets are o:E spike Eorm cross sec-tion constr-uc-tion and have channels 76 acco~llodating the base flanges 49. Mounting feet 78 on brackets 74 are securable to a roof R or other mounting support by screws or o~her fasteners or adhesive and' establish a convective air movemen,t (or air wash) space AW
under the assemblage 70.
It is also shown in FIG. 2 that the energy absorber ~2 has lateral projections 84 corresponding to, and extending into, or resting within the pyramidal projections of the ' cover for further enhanced surface area, consistent with mini-mizing thickness dimensions of the assemblage as a whole.
FIG. 2 also shows the conventional heat' transfer 1uid flow circuit FFC including a heat exchanger or heat storage device HE and'pump P used in this and the other embodiments.
FIGS. 3-5 show top views of three forms of pyramidal structure and FIG. 6 illustrates selection criteria used in chosing among the FIG. 3-5 configurations or still fur-ther con-figuràtions of the pyramidal projections for the cover.
'The 45 sloping, equal wall area pyramid 12 of FIG. 3`is pre-ferred for installations where the mean plane of the cover Cl or C5 is a~ 90 and 0, respectively (assuming a midday solar radiation direction as indicated at FIGo 6). Staggered pyramids such as 18 or 19 in FIGS, 4 and 5 are more suitable at about 30 and 60 ~C2 and C4). At 45 inclination (C3), hemispheric dome form pyramids 191 are optilnal. Different arc segments of such domes constitute separate walls of the pyramid for purposes of the above discussion of reflec-~ive and transmissive walls.
~iD953~
FIG. 7 shows a top view of a typiccll cover 2~ o:E a long, broad panel :L0 ~hich i9 l-L0 feet wide, L-20 feet long and less than a foo~ thick. There are many pyramids :L2, at least ten, and pre:Eerably many more, per square foot oE panel area and each having base width and length and height di.mensions o~ a :Eew inches each or less, preEerably subs~antially less.
. . . ~ .
- .
:: : .
BACK~RO~N~ OF THE INVENT~O'N
This inventi~n reIa-tes to an apparatus for collecting radiant solar energy and more particularly to a solar energy collector which can be attached to a surface or structure with h:igh tolerance of direction or angle'of the surface or structure upon which the collector is positioned and of seasonal solar radiation angles. The invention also provides structural rigidity and lightweight construction and capabilities of simple modular construction, of stylish`appearance, and ability to be installed on existing roofs regardless of location or pitch.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTI~N
In accordance with the'present invention, a structural ', assemblage for collection radiant solar energy comprises a base7 sidewalls and a cover with'a plurality of essentially pyramidal outward projections in ordered array or randomly arranged. The pyra~,~dal projections have walls angularly disposed to the mean cover plane.' An energy receiv,ing means of broad area is disposed within a thin volume defined by the base,' cover and sidewalls. The sidewalls may be indepenclent or integral with one or both of the base' or cover. The mean planes of cover, base and absorber are essentially parallel.
The cover projections present a plurality of re-flective and transparent surfaces angularly disposed to the mean cover p~ne to provide for optlmum collection of the radiant eliergy. The reflective'surfaces of some projections are arranged to reflect incident solar energy to penetrate trans-parent surfaces of nearby other projectivns for transmission ' '' - to the energy receiving surface in any direction of solar radiation angle of attack established by installation condi-tions~ ti~le of day, geographic location and season to consis-tently transmit available solar energy at the absorber with high efficiency.
3~i51 ~no-ther important Eeature oE this invention îs ~ha~
the surfaces forming the pyramidal projections of the cover of the collector unit can be varied in size as well as the angular rela-tionship of the surfaces to each other and to the mean pla~.of the cover to provide :Eor maximum collection of radiant energy. The shape of the transparent and reflective suraces of projections is preferably 1at where a pyramidal configuration is employed~ but may be curved. The cover with its projections is preferably integrally formed.
10~ One or more such assemblages may be installed on walls or roof of a residential building or other bui:Lding or other s-tructure. Heat exchange fluid or other energy transfer ~ ~
medium may be drawn from the absorber in a common, per se, ~:
fashion. The assemblage~s) when applied to building walls or roofs are preferably spaced therefrom to provide an air wash space for summer cooling. Special fixtures enable leaktight, secure mounting of the assemblage(s) to buildings or other supporting structures.
i : BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~E DRAWING
FIG. 1 and 2 are cross section views of two embodi-ments o~ the solar collecting structural assemblage of the in- ;
vention, differing in the forms of their base construction, ~ ;
absorbers and mountings;
FIG. 3-5 are top views of three forms of single pyra-midal projections usable in the covers of the FIG. 1-2 embodiments or other embodiments of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a diagram of several angles of wall or roof mounting from 90 to 0 with respect to ve~tical illustrating optimal forms o~ pyramid projection for such anglesj and FIG. 7 is a top view of a typical such cover with many pyramids in ordered a,rray.
:: .
, ~535~
DET~ILED DESCR:LPTION OF PRE~FE`.RR¢D EMBOD~M~N't~
Referring now to FIG. 1, a solar collection st:ructltral assemblage 10 is shown It has a cover 20 having a mean plane indicated at C-C and hollow pyramidal projections 12 with the b<~se lines o~ the walls of each such pyramidal pro-jection essentially in -the mean plane C-C or in a plane parallel thereto. The entire cover is made c~f a single sheet of plastlc molded or cast to provide the projections. Alter-natively though less pre-erred, the cover can be of multi-piece constructions of various forms. Another area of alterna-tive construction is~that flats can be provided between pyramids instead of the preferred dense packing of pyramids shown in FIG. 1.
The assemblage 10 also comprises narrow side walls 30 and a broad base 40 defining together with the cover 20 a slab-form volume 50 in which there is an energy absorber 60 of broad area form. The energy absorber may be a heat transfer fluid conduit of wide tubular construction or a serpentine pipe. It may be a coil of thermoelectric wire or a panel con-taining many photovoltaic cells. That is, the heat transfer medium can be fluid (liquid or gas) or electricity.
The base has a mean plane indicated at B-B. The absorber has a mean plane indicated at A-A. All of the planes ~-A, B-B or C-C are preferably parallel or nearly so.
The base 40 in FIG. 1 is preferably of in~egral con-struction and corrugated for strength. Preferably all of volume 50 is evacuated for thermally insulating the assemblage from conductive or convective heat transfer between the energy absorber and surro~mding amblent. Alternatively, a lower sec-tion be]ow the absorber may be evacuated to insulate the space BS (within the base) only. The corru~ations CR within the base prevent collapse under vacuum. Similarly, the _~_ ;,.
pyramidal projections 12 of cover 20 make it rigid to prevent collapse under vacuum condit iOllS even though cover 20 has a thin cross secti.on thickness to limit solar energy tr~ns~
mission losses. Although less preferred for purposes of -the present invention, volume 50 may be filled with air or other fluid and the base insulation may be provided by increasing its thickness and/or use of low conductivity, low density materials such as styrofoam or other foamed plastics, ~ibrous ` packings (including.fibers or other shredded materials), ::
honeycomb materials, insulation blankets or the like.
The vacuum pumping and vacuum.controlling means used in the base 40 and/or in volume 50 are per se conventional and not shown.
Posts 70 with wide area feet 72 carry the assemblage 10 .
from a supporting structure such as a roof R, creating an air wash space AW under the assemblage 10 for convective flow of air to avoid condensation of water vapor.and for cooling.
. Incident solar radiation is indicated for one time of day by arrows Sl- S2- S3. Some of the radiation penetrates transparent walls 14A and 14B of projections 12A and 12B.
Some of the radiation is reflected off reflective walls 16A
and 16B.of other pyramids 12B. All such radiation strikes . energy absorber 60 uniformly over its broad area at optimum angles of attack (preferably within 30-60 to the heat ex-changer mean plane~ for efficient absorption.
The reflectiveness of pyramidal walls 16A, 16B and the like, may be simply the natural reflectiveness such walls have when in relation to the sun as shown in FIG. 1 or such reflectiveness may be supplemenked by reflective coatings applied to the interior and/or exterior of such walls.
FI~. 2 shows a solar collec~or assemblage 80 ~lich differs from assemblage 10 of FIG. 1 in that the insulated base ~53~
~2 comprises a thin shell 46 conta;ning a low clens:ity in~
sula~ing material 46 such as a foam or a fibrous packing, The shell has a sidewall undercut channel 48 and a flange 4~ ~or slidably mating with elongated mountlng brackets 74, The brackets are o:E spike Eorm cross sec-tion constr-uc-tion and have channels 76 acco~llodating the base flanges 49. Mounting feet 78 on brackets 74 are securable to a roof R or other mounting support by screws or o~her fasteners or adhesive and' establish a convective air movemen,t (or air wash) space AW
under the assemblage 70.
It is also shown in FIG. 2 that the energy absorber ~2 has lateral projections 84 corresponding to, and extending into, or resting within the pyramidal projections of the ' cover for further enhanced surface area, consistent with mini-mizing thickness dimensions of the assemblage as a whole.
FIG. 2 also shows the conventional heat' transfer 1uid flow circuit FFC including a heat exchanger or heat storage device HE and'pump P used in this and the other embodiments.
FIGS. 3-5 show top views of three forms of pyramidal structure and FIG. 6 illustrates selection criteria used in chosing among the FIG. 3-5 configurations or still fur-ther con-figuràtions of the pyramidal projections for the cover.
'The 45 sloping, equal wall area pyramid 12 of FIG. 3`is pre-ferred for installations where the mean plane of the cover Cl or C5 is a~ 90 and 0, respectively (assuming a midday solar radiation direction as indicated at FIGo 6). Staggered pyramids such as 18 or 19 in FIGS, 4 and 5 are more suitable at about 30 and 60 ~C2 and C4). At 45 inclination (C3), hemispheric dome form pyramids 191 are optilnal. Different arc segments of such domes constitute separate walls of the pyramid for purposes of the above discussion of reflec-~ive and transmissive walls.
~iD953~
FIG. 7 shows a top view of a typiccll cover 2~ o:E a long, broad panel :L0 ~hich i9 l-L0 feet wide, L-20 feet long and less than a foo~ thick. There are many pyramids :L2, at least ten, and pre:Eerably many more, per square foot oE panel area and each having base width and length and height di.mensions o~ a :Eew inches each or less, preEerably subs~antially less.
. . . ~ .
- .
:: : .
Claims (6)
1. A solar collection assemblage comprising a broad and long cover, narrow sidewalls and broad and long base defining a closed volume with a broad area heat absorber contained within the volume, the cover, base and heat ex-changer having essentially parallel mean planes, and characterized in that, the cover has multiple essentially pyramidal pro-jections each of which is partially transparent and partially reflective and which are arranged to cooperate with each other so that solar radiation incident on reflective portions of any one pyramid is reflected essentially parallel to said mean planes and then re-reflected to the absorber by other such reflective portions of one or more other pyramids and so that solar radiation incident on the transmissive portions of pyramids passes through such portions directly, whereby substantially all the cover area including such pyramidal portions directly or indirectly passes avail-able solar radiation to the absorber over the full broad area thereof and at optimum angles of attack for high efficiency capture at the heat exchanger, said cover containing said pyramidal projections is substantially integrally formed with said sidewalls and base.
2. A solar collection assemblage in accordance with claim 1 wherein said volume is evacuated.
3. A solar collection assemblage in accordance with claim 1 or 2 wherein the base is substantially insulated by its thickness.
4. A solar collection assemblage in accordance with claim 1 or 2 wherein the base is substantially insulated by usage of low conductivity materials or vacuum therein.
5. A solar collection assemblage in accordance with claim 1 or 2 wherein the heat exchanger has lateral projec-tions from its mean plane nesting within the pyramidal pro-jestions of the cover.
6. A solar collection assemblage in accordance with claim 1 or 2 and further comprising channel means within a sidewall portion for slidably engaging a mounting.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA297,806A CA1095359A (en) | 1978-02-27 | 1978-02-27 | Solar energy collector |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA297,806A CA1095359A (en) | 1978-02-27 | 1978-02-27 | Solar energy collector |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1095359A true CA1095359A (en) | 1981-02-10 |
Family
ID=4110868
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA297,806A Expired CA1095359A (en) | 1978-02-27 | 1978-02-27 | Solar energy collector |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1095359A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4750473A (en) * | 1985-01-23 | 1988-06-14 | Ritelite Pty. Ltd. | Light controlling heat collecting solar roof |
-
1978
- 1978-02-27 CA CA297,806A patent/CA1095359A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4750473A (en) * | 1985-01-23 | 1988-06-14 | Ritelite Pty. Ltd. | Light controlling heat collecting solar roof |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |