A trough solar concentrator and collector

Abstract

The application discloses a trough type solar concentrator and a collector. The concentrator comprises a trough type substrate, and further comprises a flexible glass panel, an inner surface of the trough type substrate is parabolic, an inner surface of the flexible glass panel is coated with a reflective layer, and the inner surface of the trough type substrate is attached to the inner surface of the flexible glass panel. The collector comprises a support and a heat collecting pipe, and further comprises the above-mentioned concentrator, the trough type substrate and the heat collecting pipe are arranged on the support, and the heat collecting pipe is located at a focal point of the reflective layer on the flexible glass panel. Through structural innovation, the application decomposes the manufacturing difficulty of a complex curved optical part into two mature processes of forming of relatively independent structural parts and processing of a flat plate optical part, realizes core targets of production convenience, cost controllability and long service life under the premise of ensuring or even improving optical performance, and provides a potential solution for cost reduction and efficiency increase and reliable operation of a trough type solar thermal power generation technology.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of solar thermal technology, specifically relating to a trough-type solar concentrator and collector. Background Technology

[0002] Parabolic trough solar collectors are devices that use parabolic reflectors to concentrate solar radiation onto linear collector tubes. They are widely used in solar thermal power generation and industrial heating. Their core component is the concentrator, which uses a precise curved surface design to achieve efficient collection and reflection of sunlight, thereby improving energy conversion efficiency. This technology features relatively simple structure and reliable operation, making it one of the mainstream forms of solar thermal utilization today.

[0003] However, existing concentrators in parabolic trough solar collectors still have significant shortcomings in practical applications. First, to meet structural strength and durability requirements, concentrators typically use thicker glass substrates (e.g., exceeding 4 mm), resulting in heavy mirrors, inconvenient installation, and high raw material and transportation costs. Second, the process of hot-bending thick glass into a precise parabolic surface is complex, requiring strict precision in molds and a demanding production environment, leading to low processing efficiency and difficulty in guaranteeing yield. Third, the reflective layer (such as silver or aluminum plating) needs to be coated on the curved glass surface; uniform coating on curved surfaces is technically challenging, easily resulting in uneven thickness or poor adhesion, affecting reflection efficiency and long-term stability. Furthermore, existing designs often place the reflective layer on the back of the glass. During long-term outdoor operation, wind and dust easily penetrate the back, gradually eroding the reflective layer and causing an irreversible decrease in mirror reflectivity.

[0004] These factors collectively constrain the improvement of system performance and the economic viability of large-scale applications. Utility Model Content

[0005] The purpose of this application is to provide a trough-type solar concentrator and collector, which solves the problems of high manufacturing difficulty, high cost and short life of existing concentrators.

[0006] The objective of this application is achieved through the following technical solution: A trough-type solar concentrator includes a trough substrate and a flexible glass panel. The inner surface of the trough substrate is parabolic, and the inner surface of the flexible glass panel is coated with a reflective layer. The inner surface of the trough substrate and the inner surface of the flexible glass panel are bonded together.

[0007] Furthermore, the grooved substrate is hot-bent glass.

[0008] Furthermore, the thickness of the grooved substrate is 2~4mm.

[0009] Furthermore, the reflective layer is a silver layer, an aluminum layer, or a chromium layer.

[0010] Furthermore, the thickness of the flexible glass panel is 0.5~2mm.

[0011] Furthermore, a sealant is provided at the edge of the gap between the grooved substrate and the flexible glass panel.

[0012] Furthermore, the sealant completely surrounds the flexible glass panel.

[0013] Furthermore, the grooved substrate has ventilation holes that connect the inner and outer surfaces.

[0014] Furthermore, the ventilation holes are provided in two places and are located on both sides of the length direction of the grooved substrate.

[0015] A trough-type solar collector includes a support frame and a collector tube, as well as the aforementioned trough-type solar concentrator. The trough substrate and the collector tube are both mounted on the support frame, and the collector tube is located at the focal point of the reflective layer on the flexible glass panel.

[0016] The beneficial effects of this application are: (1) Significantly optimized manufacturing process and reduced costs: The substrate only needs to have the functions of support and precise parabolic shaping, without the need for difficult curved surface coating, which reduces the demanding requirements on its material and optical performance. More easily processed or lower cost composite materials can be used, simplifying substrate manufacturing. The reflective layer is coated on flexible glass in a flat state, and mature, efficient and uniform large-area flat plate coating technology (such as magnetron sputtering) can be used, which greatly improves the coating quality, production speed and yield, thereby reducing the unit production cost.

[0017] (2) Significantly improves optical performance and reliability: Flat panel coating can ensure that the thickness of the reflective layer (such as silver film) is extremely uniform and the adhesion is strong, so as to obtain the best and consistent initial reflectivity. The flexible glass panel is finally precisely bonded to the substrate, and the high-performance reflective layer is wrapped inside to form a fully sealed structure, which completely isolates the direct erosion of external wind, sand, rain, snow, moisture and pollutants. This fundamentally solves the performance degradation problem that may be caused by the failure of edge sealing of traditional back coating. The long-term reflectivity retention rate and mirror field maintenance cost are expected to be revolutionaryly improved.

[0018] (3) Enhanced product design flexibility and adaptability: This design enables modular production, allowing substrate manufacturing, panel coating, and on-site bonding to be carried out separately, facilitating transportation and on-site assembly, and is especially suitable for the construction of large-scale mirror fields. The use of flexible glass panels enables them to adapt to the bonding of substrates with different curvatures, providing possibilities for lightweight design of condenser lenses (such as using lighter substrates) and diversified application scenarios.

[0019] The aforementioned main solution and its various further alternatives can be freely combined to form multiple solutions, all of which are solutions that can be adopted and claimed in this application; furthermore, the (non-conflicting alternatives) can also be freely combined with each other and with other alternatives. Those skilled in the art, after understanding this solution, will realize from the prior art and common general knowledge that there are many combinations, all of which are technical solutions to be protected in this application, and will not be exhaustively listed here. Attached Figure Description

[0020] Figure 1 This is a side view of the structure of this application.

[0021] Figure 2 This is a side view of the split structure of this application.

[0022] Figure 3 This is a top view of the split structure of this application.

[0023] In the diagram: 1-groove substrate, 2-reflective layer, 3-flexible glass panel, 4-sealant, 5-vent hole. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The present application will be further described below with reference to specific embodiments and accompanying drawings.

[0025] Example 1 refer to Figures 1-3 As shown, a trough-type solar concentrator includes a trough substrate 1, a reflective layer 2, and a flexible glass panel 3.

[0026] The grooved substrate 1 is used to support the flexible glass panel 3 and to form a parabolic surface. The inner surface of the grooved substrate 1 is parabolic and is used for the bonding and placement of the flexible glass panel 3, so that the flexible glass panel 3 can be completely bonded to the inner surface under the action of gravity through its own flexibility, so as to form a parabolic light-concentrating surface.

[0027] The inner surface of the flexible glass panel 3 is coated with a reflective layer 2. The inner surface of the grooved substrate 1 is bonded to the inner surface of the flexible glass panel 3. After the flexible glass panel 3 is bonded to the grooved substrate 1, the flexible glass panel 3 and the reflective layer 2 also form a parabolic shape, and the sunlight is focused through the parabolic reflective layer 2.

[0028] Since the slotted substrate 1 does not require complex curved surface coating, the stringent requirements for its material and optical performance are reduced, allowing the use of easier-to-process or lower-cost composite materials to simplify substrate manufacturing. For standardized factory production, the slotted substrate 1 is preferably hot-bent glass, and its thickness is 2-4mm, which greatly avoids the problems of heavy lens weight, inconvenient installation, and high transportation costs caused by the use of thicker glass substrates in traditional condenser lenses.

[0029] The reflective layer 2 is a silver, aluminum, or chromium layer. Because the reflective layer is coated on a flexible, flat glass substrate, mature, efficient, and uniform large-area flat-plate coating processes (such as magnetron sputtering) can be utilized, greatly improving coating quality, production speed, and yield, thereby reducing unit production costs. Flat-plate coating ensures that the reflective layer (such as a silver film) has extremely uniform thickness and strong adhesion, achieving optimal and consistent initial reflectivity.

[0030] The flexible glass panel 3 has a thickness of 0.5~2mm. Ultra-thin glass has lower bending stiffness and excellent flexibility. When it is bonded to the parabolic substrate, less bonding stress is required, allowing it to be more easily and tightly "wrapped" in the substrate surface. This effectively reduces micro-gaps or minor planar deviations caused by local non-bonding, ensuring that the final reflective surface shape accuracy is as close as possible to the ideal parabola. This reduces optical aberrations and helps to focus sunlight more accurately onto the heat collection tube, thereby improving the optical efficiency of the system.

[0031] Furthermore, in outdoor environments with significant diurnal temperature variations and alternating sunny and cloudy conditions, thin glass panels, due to their smaller mass and lower heat capacity, can reach temperature equilibrium with the substrate and the environment more quickly. The thermal stress generated by the temperature gradient within the thin glass panel is also far less than that of thicker glass. This significantly reduces the risk of glass breakage or damage to the reflective coating caused by thermal stress, enhancing the product's environmental adaptability and long-term reliability in harsh climates. Simultaneously, ultra-thin flexible glass panels can improve sunlight transmittance, avoiding sunlight loss on the panel and ensuring the effective utilization of solar energy.

[0032] A sealant 4 is provided at the edge of the gap between the grooved substrate 1 and the flexible glass panel 3. The sealant 4 completely surrounds the flexible glass panel 3, sealing the gap between the substrate and the panel and completely isolating it from the direct erosion of external wind, sand, rain, snow, moisture and pollutants. This fundamentally solves the performance degradation problem that may be caused by the failure of edge sealing of traditional back coatings. The long-term reflectivity retention rate and mirror field maintenance cost are expected to be greatly improved.

[0033] The grooved substrate 1 has two vent holes 5 connecting its inner and outer surfaces. These vent holes 5 are located on both sides of the length of the grooved substrate 1. The vent holes 5 facilitate air venting during the installation of the flexible glass panel 3, preventing air from accumulating between the panel and the substrate and affecting the bonding effect. Furthermore, they ensure continued bonding and prevent bulging between the panel and the substrate caused by thermal expansion and contraction.

[0034] This embodiment, through structural innovation, breaks down the complex manufacturing challenges of curved optical components into two relatively independent mature processes: structural component forming and flat optical component processing. While ensuring or even improving optical performance, it achieves the core objectives of convenient production, controllable costs, and long service life, providing a highly promising solution for cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and reliable operation of parabolic trough solar thermal power generation technology.

[0035] Example 2 A trough-type solar collector includes a support frame and a collector tube, as well as the trough-type solar concentrator of Embodiment 1. The trough substrate 1 and the collector tube are both mounted on the support frame, which supports the concentrator and the collector tube. The collector tube is located at the focal point of the reflective layer 2 on the flexible glass panel 3, meaning that sunlight is focused through the reflective layer 2 onto the collector tube, heating the collector tube and the working fluid inside.

[0036] The foregoing basic examples and their further alternative examples can be freely combined to form multiple embodiments, all of which are embodiments that can be adopted and claimed in this application. In the scheme of this application, each alternative example can be arbitrarily combined with any other basic example and alternative example.

[0037] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of this application and is not intended to limit this application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included within the protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. A trough-type solar concentrator, comprising a trough-type substrate (1), characterized in that: It also includes a flexible glass panel (3), the inner surface of the groove substrate (1) is parabolic, the inner surface of the flexible glass panel (3) is coated with a reflective layer (2), and the inner surface of the groove substrate (1) is bonded to the inner surface of the flexible glass panel (3).

2. The trough-type solar concentrator according to claim 1, characterized in that: The grooved substrate (1) is hot-bent glass.

3. The trough-type solar concentrator according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The thickness of the grooved substrate (1) is 2~4mm.

4. The trough-type solar concentrator according to claim 1, characterized in that: The reflective layer (2) is a silver layer, an aluminum layer or a chromium layer.

5. The trough-type solar concentrator according to claim 1, characterized in that: The thickness of the flexible glass panel (3) is 0.5~2mm.

6. The trough-type solar concentrator according to claim 1, characterized in that: A sealant (4) is provided at the edge of the gap between the grooved substrate (1) and the flexible glass panel (3).

7. The trough-type solar concentrator according to claim 6, characterized in that: The sealant (4) completely surrounds the flexible glass panel (3).

8. The trough-type solar concentrator according to claim 1, characterized in that: The grooved substrate (1) has ventilation holes (5) that connect the inner and outer surfaces.

9. The trough-type solar concentrator according to claim 8, characterized in that: The ventilation holes (5) are provided in two places and are located on both sides of the length direction of the grooved substrate (1).

10. A parabolic trough solar collector, comprising a support frame and collector tubes, characterized in that: It also includes the trough-type solar concentrator as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the trough substrate (1) and the heat collection tube are both mounted on the support, and the heat collection tube is located at the focal point of the reflective layer (2) on the flexible glass panel (3).

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