Classifications

• • 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
  • H10F77/488—Reflecting light-concentrating means, e.g. parabolic mirrors or concentrators using total internal reflection
• • 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
  • F24S23/12—Light guides
• • 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
• • 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
  • F24S2023/83—Other shapes
  • F24S2023/836—Other shapes spiral
• • 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
  • F24S2023/878—Assemblies of spaced reflective elements in the form of grids, e.g. vertical or inclined reflective elements extending over heat absorbing elements
• • 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
  • F24S2023/88—Multi reflective traps
• • 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
  • Y02B10/10—Photovoltaic [PV]
• • 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
• • 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
  • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
  • Y02E10/52—PV systems with concentrators

Definitions

• This invention relates to a solar energy concentrator, a solar energy concentrator in combination with a solar energy distributor and a solar energy concentrator in combination with a solar energy conversion chamber.
• Concentrated solar energy may be used in a solar furnace or converted into other forms of energy by, for
• a thermally absorbent medium usually containing a fluid, or by a photovoltaic cell.
• Known solar concentrators include parabolic dish receivers which, in order to focus direct sunlight, track the sun across the sky. These devices are
• Solar concentrators which use either a lens or a compound reflective surface, are also commercially available but they too require tracking mechanisms to track the sun's movement across the sky. The cost of purchase, installation, maintenance and associated land requirements are again substantial.
• the solar collector of US-A-4287880 comprises a reflector formed from three separate curves, which focus solar energy onto a pipe collector, such that rays of sunlight having different angles of incidence are reflected by different parts of the reflector onto the collector pipe to heat a fluid flowing through the pipe.
• the device cannot effectively concentrate diffuse light and is therefore limited in its geographical application.
• the efficiency of the pipe absorber will also vary as a function of the ambient air temperature, because heat absorption, transfer and collection is external to the device.
• An involute beam concentrator disclosed in US-A-4610518 uses an involute chamber to convert a concentrated rectangular beam of sunlight
• This concentrator is designed to accept
• a preferred shape of the spiral is a ''Golden
• Section spiral also known as a volute, formed from a series of nested "Golden
• Section rectangles, i.e., rectangles in which the ratio of the lengths of the
• said energy concentrator comprising a spiral horn having an axis perpendicular to a plane of the spiral, said concentrator including: an input aperture forming a
• the input and output apertures wherein the horn is adapted to concentrate, by
• At least one director is provided in the mouth of the horn to
• the at least one director is a baffle disposed substantially parallel to the axis of the spiral horn.
• the at least one director is a partial spiral horn disposed substantially perpendicular to the axis of the spiral horn in at least a portion of
• the spiral horn has a substantially quadrilateral cross- section parallel to the axis of the horn.
• the taper in the plane of the spiral is a Golden Spiral.
• the horn is of metal.
• the metal is aluminium.
• the horn has portions formed of different materials disposed
• the materials being adapted to withstand the temperatures
• the light-reflecting surface is protected by ultraviolet radiation absorbing means.
• the distributions means includes at least one light pipe.
• the distribution means includes a diffuser for diffusing at least some of the concentrated solar energy to provide illumination.
• the diffuser is in the shape of a spiral horn.
• the chamber containing energy conversion means for
• the energy conversion means includes a photovoltaic
• the energy conversion means includes heat absorbing media.
• the energy conversion means includes steam generating means.
• the energy conversion means includes a solar furnace.
• At least some of the solar energy is reflected within the
• the solar energy undergoes wavelength increases by
• solar energy distribution means is provided to transmit
• the distribution means includes at least one light pipe.
• collector can collect solar energy over a large range of angles of incidence
• the wavelength of solar energy may also be
• FIG. 1 shows a solar energy collector according the invention
• Figure 2 shows a side wall of the collector of Figure 1 before being
• Figure 3 shows a cross-section of a collector of the invention.
• Figure 4 shows a cross-section of a collector of the invention having
• baffles in the mouth of the horn baffles in the mouth of the horn
• Figure 5 shows a light pipe used in the invention
• Figure 6 shows a conversion chamber of the invention.
• the solar collector 1 shown in Figure 1 is a spiral horn, having an input
• the transverse cross- section of the spiral is a quadrilateral, the inner wall 5 being shorter than the
• Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the spiral horn of Figure 1.
• the shape of the spiral may be plotted using the function rkfixed available, for
• the spiral horn 1 to be directed towards the centre or focus 1 1 of the spiral horn
• a ray of light 21 incident at the same point 23 as the ray 20 on the spiral at a smaller angle of incidence undergoes multiple reflections and is reflected out of the input aperture 2 of the horn 1.
• baffles 30 With the insertion of baffles 30 in the mouth 2 of the horn 1, as shown in Figure 4, a ray of light 31 , as shown by the broken line, incident on the same point 23 of the spiral horn as shown in Figure 3 is reflected by the baffle 30
• baffles 30 within the mouth of the horn increases the range of angles of incidence of solar energy rays which are reflected towards the centre 11 of
• baffles 30, as shown in Figure 4 also follow the curve of a
• plurality of partial spiral horns may be inserted in the mouth 2 of the spiral horn
• the spiral horn 1 may be formed of polished metal, for example, aluminium. However, because of the high temperatures reached towards the
• a portion of the horn closest to the input aperture 2, which is subject to lower temperatures than the rest of the horn may be formed of a plastics material coated with metal to form a reflective surface.
• the entry aperture 2 may be covered by a window to absorb ultraviolet
• the horn may be formed of a glass-metal-glass
• Light exiting from the exit aperture 3 may be directed by means of
• Light exiting from the collector 1 may be used in any known method of
• solar energy conversion or may be distributed by light pipes 40, to provide
• Light may be extracted from the light
• the diffuser may be in a form
• the diffuser may be a spiral horn used in an opposite sense to that of the spiral horn collector. It will be understood that such a diffuser could be connected directly to the solar collector
• a solar energy converter 50 may be provided as shown in
• the solar energy converter comprises a cylindrical chamber having an input aperture 51 in the centre of one circular end face 52.
• the solar collector may be provided with photovoltaic cells or with thermal energy absorbing means, such as pipes containing a fluid for the absorption and
• the inside of the chamber 50 may be provided with wavelength-converting means, for
• the solar cells may be cooled in a known manner, by, for example, a
• cooling fluid and the energy gained by the cooling fluid may also be utilised in a
• chamber 50 is not critical and any convenient shape which will promote multiple
• the aperture 51 is not critical.
• the input aperture 51 of the solar collector may be connected directly to the exit aperture 3 of the solar collector 1 or the solar collector 1 may be connected to the solar converter 50 by means of light pipes 40.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Sustainable Development (AREA)
• Sustainable Energy (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Photovoltaic Devices (AREA)
• Light Guides In General And Applications Therefor (AREA)
• Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)

Priority Applications (5)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Related Child Applications (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=10842301

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (40)

Citations (9)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 1998
  • 1998-11-11 GB GB9824771A patent/GB2343741B/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1999
  • 1999-11-11 JP JP2000581405A patent/JP4829407B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1999-11-11 AU AU10636/00A patent/AU1063600A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1999-11-11 WO PCT/GB1999/003757 patent/WO2000028264A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1999-11-11 EP EP99954219A patent/EP1131586B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1999-11-11 US US09/830,764 patent/US6666207B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1999-11-11 ES ES99954219T patent/ES2192089T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1999-11-11 CA CA002389277A patent/CA2389277C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2003
  • 2003-10-22 US US10/690,797 patent/US20040079358A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (9)

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