JPH05226682A - Solar cell tree - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a quasi-tree having a decorative function without requiring any external power by providing many detachable leaflike solar cells to the sides of a trunk support similar to a tree's trunk, storing generated power, and driving a decorative body, illumination means and a sound generator by the power. CONSTITUTION:A solar cell 5 formed in a shape of a leaf of a tree is formed by adhering three photovoltaic elements 11 formed by coating a soft insulating thin film made of polyimide, etc., with an amorphous silicon thin film to a surface of a leaf-shaped support plate having flexibility such as a punched plate, a lath plate, etc. The one cell 5 generates about 2W. The cell 5 generates when solar light is applied thereto, and its generated power is stored in a storage battery 6 through leads in a trunk support 1. A clock 3 provided at a top of the support 1 is always driven by the power from the battery 6, and a sound generator, illumination means are suitably driven.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a solar cell tree in which solar cells are arranged like leaves of trees.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An energy converter has been proposed which comprises a trunk resembling the trunk of a tree, a branch protruding from the trunk, and a solar cell provided at the tip of the branch like a leaf. (See Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-34765).

[0003]

In the energy converter disclosed in the above publication, the electric power generated by the solar cell which is attached to the tip of the branch is stored in the storage battery, and the electric power is supplied from the storage battery as needed. However, the specific application of the power is not shown. Further, in the publication, since the existing solar cell having a rectangular shape is attached to the tip of the branch portion, the shape of the solar cell is not similar to that of a tree.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and includes a large number of dendritic solar cells that are detachably attached to the side of a backbone support that resembles a tree trunk. With the provision of the above, the electric power generated by these solar cells is stored in a storage battery, and the stored electric power is used to display a decorative body such as a watch or a glass fiber luminous body, an illumination means attached to the solar cell, and a sounding body. It is what drives it.

[0005]

The solar cell tree of the present invention forms a pseudo tree similar to a tree, and at the same time, electric power generated by the tree itself can be used for decoration of the tree.

[0006]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a solar cell tree of the present invention, in which 1 is a backbone support which serves as a trunk of a tree, which is composed of a resin or a metal cylindrical body and is used for a base 2. Upright. A clock 3 which constitutes a decorative body is attached to the top of the backbone support 1, and a sounding body (not shown) such as a speaker is provided directly below the clock 3 via a waterproof louver 4. ing. Denoted at 5 is a leaf-shaped solar cell mounted on the side of the backbone support 1, and the electric power generated by the dendritic solar cell 5 is disposed inside the backbone support 1. It is stored in a storage battery 6 built in the base 2 via a conductive wire. In addition, this dendritic solar cell 5
A light emitting element 7 such as an LED is attached to the tip of the ..

FIG. 2 shows an example of a specific structure of the solar cell 5 having the shape of a tree leaf. On the surface of a flexible tree-shaped support plate 10 such as a punching plate or lath plate, a photovoltaic element 11 formed by applying a thin film of amorphous silicon to an insulating thin plate showing flexibility such as polyimide is attached. It is configured. The size of the dendritic solar cell 5 is about 5 mm long as shown in FIG.
Three photovoltaic elements 11 each having a width of 0 cm and a width of about 20 cm and a side of 10 cm are attached. Then, one dendritic solar cell 5 generates about 2 W of electric power under direct sunlight.

Thus, when the solar cells 5 ... Are irradiated with sunlight, they generate electric power, and the electric power is stored in the storage battery 6 via the conductive wire in the backbone support 1. The timepiece 3 provided on the top of the backbone support 1 is constantly driven by the electric power from the storage battery 6, and the sounding body and the illumination means are appropriately driven. The concrete driving of the sounding body and the illumination means is such that the timepiece 3 issues a time signal at 00:00 or 30 minutes every hour, the light emitting elements 7 ... Are made to blink, and the solar cell tree of the present invention is focused. A human body sensor (not shown) including an electric element is provided, and when the sensor detects that a person is approaching the solar cell tree of the present invention, a warning sound is emitted and a synthetic voice such as "Welcome" is output. It is conceivable to turn on the illumination means at the same time as emitting the light.

If the solar cells 5 ... Can be detachably attached to the basic support 1, the solar cells can be installed in accordance with the electric power required for the loads such as the decorative body, the sounding body, and the illumination means. It is possible to change the number of sheets 5 ...

The solar cell 5 mounted on the backbone support 1 ...
As shown in FIG. 1, all of them may have the same size, but as shown in FIG. 3, the size may be set so that the size gradually increases from the upper side to the lower side of the backbone support 1. For example, it can be shaped like a natural tree. Further, the size of the solar cells 5 ... Is the same as in FIG. 1, but instead of being constant, as shown in FIG. 4, a tree branch whose length gradually increases from the upper side to the lower side of the backbone support 1 is used. Solar cell 5 through the corresponding auxiliary support rod 8 ...
By adopting a configuration in which ... is attached, a solar cell tree that resembles an extremely natural tree can be obtained, and at the same time, the lower solar cells 5 ... The inconvenience of lowering is also eliminated.

Next, a structure for obtaining an average generated electric power during the irradiation of sunlight will be described. The solar cells 5 ... Are attached to the backbone support 1 at an angle of, for example, 45 degrees, and all are oriented in a fixed direction, and the backbone support 1 is rotated with respect to the base 2. It is configured to be movable. Then, the backbone support 1 tracks the sunlight and rotates in a direction in which the solar cells 5 ... The sunlight tracking operation of the basic support 1 is automatically performed by an optical sensor and a motor provided on the base 2.

Further, instead of rotating the entire backbone support 1, a movable mechanism made of a piezoelectric material or the like is provided at a place where each solar cell 5 ...
It is also conceivable that the device itself tracks sunlight to reduce the decrease in power generation efficiency.

Next, as an ornamental body provided on the top of the backbone support 1, an analog timepiece having a short hand and a long hand is illustrated in FIG. 1, but a digital timepiece using liquid crystal may be used, and FIG. As shown, a large number of glass fibers 9 protruding from the top of the backbone support 1 ...
A large decorative effect can be obtained even with a glass fiber luminous body including a multicolored luminous element (not shown) provided in the core support 1.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a glass fiber illuminant comprising a glass fiber 9 ... And a light emitting element is provided on the top of the backbone support 1, and a timepiece 3 is installed directly below the glass fiber illuminator to decorate the both. The body is composed, and it is 0 every hour
At a predetermined time such as 0 minutes or 30 minutes, the glass fiber luminous body is driven to light, and at the same time, the waterproof louver 4
A melody etc. can be pronounced from a sounding body such as a speaker inside.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following advantages.
A large number of detachable solar cells are installed on the side of a backbone support that resembles a tree trunk, and the power generated by these solar cells is stored in a storage battery. Since the body, illumination means, and sounding body are driven, a pseudo tree with a decorative function can be obtained, and since the tree itself has a solar power generation function, it does not require any external power and can stand alone. You can perform decoration and pronunciation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a solar cell tree of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a dendritic solar cell used in the solar cell tree of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the solar cell tree of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a solar cell tree according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the solar cell tree of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the solar cell tree of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Core support 2 Base 3 Clock 4 Louver 5 Tree-shaped solar cell 6 Storage battery 7 Illumination 8 Auxiliary support rod 9 Glass fiber 10 Tree-shaped support plate 11 Photovoltaic device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Nahokuni Sato, 2-18 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hirokazu Otani 2-18, Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A trunk support serving as a trunk of a tree, a large number of dendritic solar cells that are detachably attached to the sides of the support, and store electric power generated by the solar cells. A storage battery, a decoration provided on the top of the support and driven by electric power from the storage battery, and illumination means attached to the plurality of dendritic solar cells and driven by electric power from the storage battery And a sounding body provided on the support and driven by electric power from the storage battery. 2. The plurality of dendritic solar cells comprises:
The solar cell tree according to claim 1, wherein the area is set so as to increase from the upper side to the lower side of the backbone support. 3. The plurality of dendritic solar cells comprises:
2. The base support can be attached to and detached from the base support through an auxiliary support rod corresponding to a branch of a tree, the length of which gradually increases from the upper side to the lower side of the base support. Solar tree. 4. The plurality of dendritic solar cells comprises:
It is attached to the above-mentioned backbone support in a certain direction, and the backbone support is rotatable in a direction in which irradiation light is effectively applied to a large number of solar cells attached to the support. The solar cell tree according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3. 5. The plurality of dendritic solar cells comprises:
The solar cell tree according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the surface directions of the solar cells are set to be movable, and the respective solar cells face in a direction in which the irradiation light is effectively received. 6. The solar cell tree according to claim 1, claim 2, claim 3, claim 4, or claim 5, wherein the ornament is a timepiece that displays time. 7. The solar cell tree according to claim 6, wherein the sounding body is caused to sound when the clock reaches a predetermined time. 8. The solar cell tree according to claim 6, wherein the illumination means is operated when the timepiece reaches a predetermined time. 9. The claim 1, claim 2, claim 3, claim 4, or claim 5, wherein the ornament is a glass fiber luminous body comprising a combination of a glass fiber and a light emitting element. The described solar cell tree. 10. The solar cell tree according to claim 9, wherein the glass fiber luminous body emits light when the timepiece reaches a predetermined time. 11. The solar cell tree according to claim 10, wherein the glass fiber luminous body is caused to emit light at the same time when the timepiece reaches a predetermined time, and at the same time, the sounding body is also made to sound.