Solar power capturing system and planning method

Abstract

A solar-power-capturing system is disclosed. The system comprising a plurality of black body solar panels for heating a fluid using solar radiation, the plurality of black body solar panels being arranged around a building, based on mapping of sunny shade areas of the building aesthetic and functional, piping minimizing opportunity. Further, the plurality of photovoltaic solar panels is provided to generate electrical power, the plurality of photovoltaic solar panels being arranged, based on the mapping, and in an available space. Further, a plurality of fake solar panels is provided in a partly sunny spaces aesthetically consistent with the plurality of photovoltaic solar panels. wherein the plurality of black body solar panels and the plurality of photovoltaic solar panels provide a cool shade due to conversion of incoming solar radiation into electricity, black body absorption or emission back effect.

Description

[0001] SOLAR POWER CAPTURING SYSTEM AND PLANNING METHOD

[0002] Jyoti Varma

[0003] Pradeep Varma, PhD, Member IEEE

[0004] 634 Sector 21, Gurgaon, Haryana 122016, India e-mail: pvarma@buffnstaff.com www. buffnstaff . com

[0005] Phone: +91-9868127143

[0006] FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0007] This invention is related to the planning and deployment of photovoltaic and black body solar panels in a building.

[0008] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Solar power has the following characteristics:

[0010] • Free

[0011] • Delivered Free

[0012] • Limited quantity of energy flux available in the day, not night, that also fluctuates

[0013] A user is best off solving his / her energy requirement within the above nature of solar energy to obtain a free, clean, green solution. Most uses are of this nature. It is hard to imagine a use that goes beyond, for example an electric train, or a levitated high-speed version of a train, as even this problem can be solved by capturing solar power along the tracks and passing that to the train locally along the path. For a problem that truly has tremendous energy ask, perhaps the solution is a captive thermonuclear plant, or a hydroelectric plant, but that is truly rare, e.g. a grid energy source.

[0014] Solar power can be magnified using wind power in addition that again fluctuates, but has no night restriction.

[0015] As of date, most energy is supplied by the grid worldwide. But as solar generation becomes cheaper, this use will dwindle in the day at least. The fluctuating nature of the energy will keep solar storage-dependent, e.g. batteries, to even out the fluctuations, but that has an economic and environmental cost. Minimizing batteries is one objective in arriving at a scalable solution.

[0016] Captive solar / wind farms to collect energy to supply as grid energy has a temporary appeal as it fits the societal mindset that grid supplies. Certain windy places have an advantage of concentrated energy, so a plant there may be justifiable. But otherwise, these decentralized energies are best used in a decentralized manner as collection of energy and transmission are very expensive activities with both capital cost and daily, operational losses.

[0017] Solar promotes a flat urban landscape, both cheaper and in some ways, safer, as high rises pack a lot of energy users within a small space that the flux may not suffice for. A high rise also casts a long shadow on the neighbourhood, which may not be of passing nature with a multitude of high rises, causing objections. Wind power on the other hand can improve with a high rise, as wind improves with height.

[0018] A world population of 1 billion for the Earth radius of 6000 KM fits in 1% of the Earth surface area with hundreds of square meters of area per person allowing a self-sufficient society leaving 99% of the world intact for pure wilderness and virgin nature. This is not a difficult goal to aspire for, even for the larger population of 10 billion as a cap against Malthusian disaster.

[0019] With the premises above, we present below a planning and deployment tool for maximum flux utilization incident on a building subject to one or more of the following constraints:

[0020] • Fixed, small, battery capacity

[0021] • Fixed, large thermal storage capacity

[0022] • Direct loading of flux, without storage

[0023] • Aesthetic elevation of the building

[0024] • Overloading deployment for aesthetics and shading

[0025] Two kinds of solar panels are considered, photovoltaic, and solar water heaters based on black body absorption.

[0026] The work directly applies to deployment on the lawns of a building, if so desired, by regarding the lawn as an adjacent, zero-height rooftop.

[0027] Shading has two applications, one or both of which may be used i.e. overloaded in parallel with the ordinary flux capture function at a time: (a) shelter, e.g. from rain, and (b) cooling.

[0028] Planner takes an architect’s map of the building exteriors, the roof, walls and surroundings (e.g. trees, high rises), to plan for the building.

[0029] A working example is provided by Adbhut House, our testbed for deploying and experimenting with smart building technologies.

[0030] A solar panel thus brings three values besides novel aesthetics in exchange for its costs comprising money, looks, maintenance, and longevity.

[0031] • Power

[0032] • Cooling Shade

[0033] • Shelter

[0034] From an overloading perspective, it would be ideal if each benefit trounces the costs on its own. Then the combined value would clearly offer a lot of merit. Cooling Shade - Value, Competition, Cost

[0035] The panels as substitute of awnings and temporary roofs or sheds provide the same benefits — shade. The structure of the panel provides shadow, and hence, a shade to the window below it, and the floor behind the window. By replacing the awning and adding the panel, it eliminates the commonly-expensive cost of the awning. So, the panel adds energy, aesthetic look and free shade.

[0036] Figure 8. shows Adbhut House’s prior art, where the panels at the top provide shade to thousands of litres of water in a cold tank underneath it. The cold water used to be warm in summers before the panels were put up. It cooled by several degrees to enjoyable shower water right after the panels were put up. Water has a large heat capacity. Cooling experienced this was a direct corroboration of the value of shade in our own experience.

[0037] Shelter - Value, Competition, Cost

[0038] The panels as substitute also provide shelter. The panel protects the window beneath it from the sunlight, dust, wind. By replacing the awning and adding the panel, it eliminates the cost of the awning. So, the panel adds energy, aesthetic look and free shade.

[0039] Figure 8 shows the two tall arched windows from the bottom of the house to the top next to the staircase, above which two black body panels jut out like wings. Indeed a lot of photovoltaic panels are placed this way, utilizing existing sloping roofs of the building, e.g., as shown in the front. Compared to the commonplace shed-like and not cheap placement of panels at the top roof centre, we find our placement much more interesting, of a modern, high-technology, almost sci-fi movie variety, than the ugly sheds around that only add clutter, wind vulnerability and cost, besides space utilization inefficiency. While Figure 8 is prior art, we take it much further in the present disclosure, with further gains for these specifically shown panels, designed and taught, that will be implemented in this house, in the future. The two black body wing-like panels are a replacement of expensive and difficult to maintain awnings that used to be above the arches, below the slope on which the present panels rest, with a look that is now much better than before. Maintenance is easy, from the slope, not requiring any hanging access from the slope to the arches, as the erstwhile awnings did. These tall windows fall on the shaded part of the building, so shade is not the ask, but shelter from rain is, given the very large glass panes used. The panels easily provide this result, with the lower panel that gets more sunlight also serving of minor shade value for the roof slope underneath.

[0040] Another value is ease of implementation, which translates to lessening of negatives, namely cost and maintenance, as opposed to a benefit. Panels placed away from wind exposure is one such example, e.g. the lower placement of panels in Figure 8 on roof slopes.

[0041] The power perspective is already a given. Below, we present the means and methods of realizing the value presented above. Concretely, in Adbhut House, we expect to be able to realize value from up to 40 photovoltaic and 7 black body panels:

[0042] Power — all but 2, which therefore are replaced by lookalikes, i.e. fakes

[0043] Shade - all but 1,

[0044] Shelter - all but 10

[0045] Additionally, we are extremely pleased with the aesthetic value of the entire work, a bonus to be depicted in pictures we intend to publish later, well beyond Figure 8, already shown here as prior art. A key contribution of the work here is the systematic approach taken. In building Solar for Adbhut House, we found ourselves repeatedly on an incomplete foot, planning with bad assumptions, such as believing for a long time that 24 photovoltaics is all we had slots for, and hence planning on replacing the present set of less than 400 W each with 1000 W panels eventually, a plan that stands jettisoned now, with the larger slots now available, along with other improvements reducing power need that we have disclosed before. One of the defining characteristics of inexpensive Adbhut construction has been avoidance of waste and repeat work, the avoidance of which with the panels above, is satisfying indeed. One fake black body panel does not get much Sun in the day, being mostly in the shade, and hence is power irrelevant. It is also shade irrelevant for this reason, but not the other fake, whose minor power relevance adds the complexity of distinct treatment alone, which is not worthwhile. Both the fakes are shelter relevant from rain. All the other panels get at least half a day’s Sun each, making them all power relevant. The photovoltaic panels occupy premium slots and all get a large majority of the daily Sun each. Black body panels get less, but their efficiency is more, as discussed later, and the overall need is capped so the lesser Sun suffices. 10 photovoltaic panels do not block rain in any useful manner and hence are shelter irrelevant. 12 panels have significant unobstructed height, and hence wind exposure. These 12 need a stronger support construction than the others.

[0046] Exemplary improper planning that took place in the absence of the systematic planner at Adbhut House in the past is listed below:

[0047] 2010-2018: The deployment of 4 south-facing, premium slotted, black body panels for a Racold solar geyser using a pressure pump storing hot water at a height above cold water. This deployment had all the experts’ approval in this architected, builder, built house with expert solar geyser vending. The system was dismantled in 2018, before any replacing solar systems were deployed, because of the nuisance value of the pressure pump and other maintenance costs. During its primacy, and inadequate solar heating regardless, the need for more solar was repeatedly felt, which could have been easily met under the pressure pumping assumptions by simply doubling the rack of panels growing height-wise along the panel slant, which the pumping would have supported but the experts never foresaw. 2018-2022: The solar geyser was then replaced by another from Venus, starting with one tank and expanding to another, running without a pressure pump and the tanks located below cold water, but only one west-facing solar panel was deployed, eclipsing the terrace garden by sitting directly on it. It violated all the principles, inadequate solar power, improper shade, improper shelter in all its operation, the latter two eclipsing the terrace garden, and the power although good for the single panel, was not adequate for the house’s need.

[0048] 2022-date: The black body panels were then increased to 4, all west-facing, shifting from the garden to ride the sloping roof just above and adjoint the garden, without adequate consideration of the extent of Sun actually reaching the roof. One of the panels was recently shifted to a more sunny sloping roof about 15 feet away, showing immediately the sunny impact from the thus slightly rewired, but still-X configuration of the panels (an estimated 33% improvement in power). The X design was good, just not adequately sunned, to deliver to the need.

[0049] 2020-date, photovoltaic panels: the panels grew incremental to 24 with a limitation assumed about them as discussed previously. More slots have now been identified, which can be populated in due course, with genuines or fakes, for clearcut benefit, as taught herein.

[0050] The absence of planner is therefore a clearcut deficiency, regardless of the scattering or quality of individual expertise available in the field. This deficiency is addressed by the present disclosure’s planning system, that additionally optimizes the system’s performance by reducing piping / wiring load on the solar flux while using it with high efficiency in an aesthetically pleasing deployment. It is important to note here that solar panels are notorious for underrealizing their power potential in their actual average realizations versus the peak powers mentioned on the panels. The power wattages reported above are all peak power and in our own experience thus far, we have not come close to realizing half of that as average. Clearly there is a dire need to increase power realization among panels and our deployment technology discloses novel methods for the purpose such as the capacitive load reduction mentioned above, and advising when and where to go black body versus when and where to go photovoltaic in a deployment. In the vision of 99%-virgin nature outlined at the outset, panel space is limited and competitive. Power need reduction addresses this need, e.g. for cooling using shade, not power alone, which our planning and deployment addresses, along with shelter needs and the entire result is holistically planned with an artistic, aesthetic perspective.

[0051] There is therefore a need to overcome the many deficiencies mentioned above which our teaching here caters to, holistically, end-to-end, from planning to deployment.

[0052] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0053] A solar-power-capturing system is disclosed. The system comprising a plurality of black body solar panels for heating a fluid using solar radiation, the plurality of black body solar panels being arranged around a building, based on mapping of sunny shade areas of the building aesthetic and functional, piping minimizing opportunity. Further, the plurality of photovoltaic solar panels is provided to generate electrical power, the plurality of photovoltaic solar panels being arranged, based on the mapping, and in an available space. Further, a plurality of fake solar panels is provided in a partly sunny spaces aesthetically consistent with the plurality of photovoltaic solar panels, wherein the plurality of black body solar panels and the plurality of photovoltaic solar panels provide a cool shade due to conversion of incoming solar radiation into electricity, black body absorption, and emission back effect.

[0054] Presented herein is a planning and deployment system for solar panels comprising photovoltaic panels generating electricity as well as direct, water heating, flat plate collectors solar panels based on the black body principle. A planning subsystem for optimized piping and wiring for the panels is described, besides a deployment subsystem comprising a fault-tolerant movable platform to support the panels for facing the Sun throughout a solar day for maximum flux utilization. Included are approximations of the movable platform using one or more fixed positions involving both North-South and East-West directional slopes. Multiple benefits are attained by the overall system holistically, including shade, shelter, and improvement in a building’s looks or aesthetics, besides optimized power.

[0055] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0056] Figure 1. shows the Planner Flowchart in an example embodiment of the present subj ect matter.

[0057] Figure 2. shows Aesthetic Parallel Piping and Wiring Partitions in an example embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0058] Figure 3a-3c. shows Aesthetic Piping and Wiring Sequences in an example embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0059] Figure 4. shows Fault Tolerance and Parts in an example embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0060] Figure 5. shows movable Platform in an example embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0061] Figure 6. shows Black Body Adjustment in an example embodiment of the present subject matter

[0062] Figure 7. shows Panel Awnings and Aesthetic Signatures in an example embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0063] Figure 8. shows Prior Art Comprising Adbhut House Apriori.

[0064] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0065] Solar Flat Plate Collector or Black Body solar Panel According to Newton’s Law of Cooling, a body at a higher temperature than the surroundings loses heat at a rate that is proportional to the difference in temperature between the body and the surroundings. Eventually, a finite body loses its finite heat and reaches the temperature of the surroundings. Similarly, a cooler body acquires heat from the surroundings till it reaches the temperature of the surroundings.

[0066] A black body, typically of black colour which absorbs all light, does nothing different than the above, just that it is more efficient in the process. It radiates more heat and it absorbs more heat. The constant of proportionality, e.g. emissivity, is higher for a black body, compared to others in the discussion above.

[0067] A black body absorbs all incoming radiation, measured as incoming power per unit area, or flux, so it is an extremely effective means of transferring incoming solar radiation of all frequencies into hot water. The emissivity depends upon the quality of blackness of the body, which need not be just the quality of a black paint used. Many different kind of materials, chemicals, and physical configurations are used to construct a “quality” black body, e.g. a hollow sphere with a pin prick hole through which black body radiation comes out which is used for black body studies.

[0068] A solar panel including a black body solar panel, is typically a rectangle, the ones available to Adbhut House being 2 metre by 1 metre. We work with rectangles as exemplary panels in the aesthetic discussion here, although other shapes would clearly increase the art palette and similar principles would apply.

[0069] A black body solar panel mimics a hot surrounding for the inlaid black body pipes that carry water. The inlaid pipes thus acquire the hot temperature. The solar flux yields this hot surrounding emulation, which then lets the black body and inlying water get heated. Water flow continually takes the heat away. The key observations here are:

[0070] Perfect, 100% flux capture is possible, if the black body is perfect.

[0071] • A given flux emulates a given surroundings temperature. More the flux, higher the surroundings temperature and lower the flux, lower the temperature. The surrounding temperature caps the temperature a black body can acquire.

[0072] • Hence, water flow must continually take the capped temperature water away and bring in lower temperature water that can then acquire the heat. Stagnant water will just sit 30 stagnant at the surrounding temperature, neither gaining heat, nor losing heat and the system is in stable flux equilibrium, not in any danger of overheating or burning out due to non -removal of heat.

[0073] • In summer the flux is higher, so the capped temperature is higher and in winter the flux is lower so the temperature cap is lower. To obtain a higher temperature than the cap, some other means of heating has to be used, such as electrical, which can come from photovoltaic panels. In shade, the emulated surroundings temperature is less than in direct sunlight.

[0074] • Hence, a black body solar panel can lose heat by radiating it away if hotter water than its emulated surroundings temperature is supplied. So combining panels in shade with 40 panels in sunlight is a tricky proposition that can sometimes lose heat instead of gaining it. This is one of the reasons why the brighter, lower-placed awning-replacing panel in Figure 8 was made a fake - its shading is still excessive requiring keeping it away from hotter panels’ piping from elsewhere and the power value is too little to justify this treatment.

[0075] Design takeaways from the above are as follows:

[0076] 1. Keeping a high flow rate is therefore critical from the discussion above. Stagnant water risks not absorbing heat, moving water will always absorb heat so long it does not stick around long enough to acquire the capping temperature. This amounts to the use of fat well-insulated pipes and resistance reduction in the water flow using direct paths and reduced bends. Convection benefits if the incline for convection is high as opposed to being flat.

[0077] 2. Unused water in a hot tank will gradually acquire higher and higher temperature approaching the capping temperature if a high flow is maintained. The flow reduces as the capping temperature approaches, since the convection drive then goes down. So, the friction against laminar flow must be kept down to enable the varying drive to regardless heat the tank.

[0078] 3. If the tank water is continuously drawn and replaced by cold water, both the flow goes up and the utilization of flux remains near perfect. A large unused tank can also yield this effect but this holds only while the tank average temperature is low. A small tank must have a lot of use to get this effect. For the highest temperature use of a tank, it is best to have it large enough to suffice without replenishment of water, but then heat it well ahead of use with insulation in place to have the hot water around when needed, use it completely, then replenish it completely with cold water and then have the cold water heated in isolation. This boils down to a day being broken into a main use time, say the morning bathing time for most users, the rest being heating time with insulation good enough to survive the night.

[0079] All the takeaways are designed in the Adbhut House plan. High temperature use for a large rooftop hot tank in the house partitions the black body solar panels into South-East-facing panels for early morning heating and South-West-facing panels for the rest of the day heating. Since morning bathers are the maximum load, the South-East-facing panels are sloped steeply to face the rising Sun directly with minimum difference in the normal to the panel and the Sun’s rays. This maximizes the use of the early morning Sun. Flux capture is proportional cosine(0), where 0 is the angle between the incident sunlight and the normal or perpendicular to the plane of the panel. The South-East panels have a hard working requirement early in the morning to raise the hot tank temperature to the capping temperature as quickly as possible, after any overnight use / radiation heat loss. The South-West facing panels work later in the day, with the objective of meeting the day’s use as well as reaching the capping temperature by dusk.

[0080] By aligning the black body panels into east and west partitions, the sky is partitioned into two portions, the one relevant to the east panels and the one relevant to the west panels. The East panels are slanted more to both have a higher convection flow and lower 0 for the rising Sun to work immediately after dawn and fast, with the objective of starting from near capping temperature and quickly reaching the capping temperature. The west facing panels cover more of the sky, are more gently sloped, but sloped nevertheless for high flow. In-between all the panels work with the Sun around noon time.

[0081] Photovoltaic Solar Panels

[0082] The partitioning of the sky into East and West suits black body solar panels, because, light scattering plays less of a role for the black body panels than it does for photovoltaic panels. Black body solar panels absorb whatever comes their way. Photovoltaic panels do not. Photovoltaic solar panels are based on the photoelectric effect, which does not generate free electrons for current under a cutoff frequency. As just about everyone notices, photovoltaics stop generating current at dawn and dusk when the light traverses a long atmospheric path and arrives at the lower end of the frequency spectrum, red, orange, yellow as opposed to mid-day when it arrives as white light against a bright blue sky. The long path scatters the high frequency blue light away generally disabling photovoltaics from generating current at the ends of the day. Having photovoltaics facing the Sun at dawn or dusk hardly matters. They still won’t generate current. Hence South-facing is just about the only relevant position for photovoltaics in the day. Because photovoltaics do not extract energy from all solar frequencies, their power generation is inherently less than 100% of the flux.

[0083] Partitioning immediately frees up a building’s faces for different kinds of panel deployment. The exact angles for the panels depend upon the angle of the horizon, or whatever makes up the earliest position of the visible Sun, past a building, tree, mountain, whatever. The same holds for the last position, at dusk. The planning flowchart, Figure 1, works out these angles and uses them to partition the sky for individual panels, deciding their individual faces to the sky to maximize flux usage and minimize scattering loss. For the more ambitious deployments, the movable platform provides a model for us to follow, in rigid, fault-tolerant strength, as opposed to being soft osmosis driven, unable to handle wind, as given in Figure 5.

[0084] The panels on the East face are sprinters, while the west face panels are marathoners. The heavy lifting is left to the west face, with good insulation and limited use at night preserving the result and the sprinters playing catch up in the morning. Excess use at night can be carried out, but then other means of heating has to intervene before or around the bathing time. The sprinters also contribute to the heavy lift post their morning sprint while they are still active and receiving Sunlight. Being dedicated to the dawn to early afternoon sky, they don’t last much into the afternoon. In Adbhut House case, the sprinters, numbering two, are planned for positioning on an east-facing wall, replacing a prior awning, so there is not much Sun they can get past early afternoon anyway. So the Sunlight supply and need merge well, utilizing space effectively. The west-facing panels in Adbhut House are planned to be strung up as a necklace aesthetic, mostly hanging in the air along the piping from the one panel shown in Figure 8 at the back of the house. This necklace casts a shadow on a wall and terrace garden rooftop below, which is a concern of contradictory nature. The terrace garden here is an afterthought. It covers and cools the outhouse portion of Adbhut House, comprising of a bunch of potted plants. The cooling and coverage therefore is of mediocre quality and the necklace’s shade actually can improve the outhouse cooling. There are a total of 3 marathoners and 2 sprinters heating water dedicatedly for Adbhut House. The sprinter slots are pretty much defunct for photovoltaic use, and the marathoners leverage already available west-facing slopes extensively for support at low heights, while having a straight piping path to the hot water tank, so these slots are given to the black body panels over photovoltaics. The photovoltaics still get all the South-facing rooftop slots and many South-West facing ones, so their competition for these black-body slots is low.

[0085] Of the 40 slots made available to photovoltaic solar panels, 16 are South-facing rooftop ones, including 12 more windy ones at height, seen as the highest panels in Figure 8. 8 are planned in the future as South-East facing ones, converting the front-most panels in Figure 8 to this direction from a pure East facing direction. 16 slots are left for South-West facing panels, ten of the 16 replacing prior awnings on the Western face of the building with panel awnings for shade and shelter. The East face gives an early power start to Adbhut House, the West face sustains it in the late afternoon, which is a heavy load time during summers, so the choice is driven by both need and availability of slots. Clearly the support of the panels can be adjusted for facing South alone as per prior art, but the load dictates South-West for these panels, which we shall implement, aesthetically. In Adbhut House, movable platform implementations (not approximates) are planned for non- Awning and non-East slots only, which leaves maximum 22 slots for such consideration including the 12 windy ones, whose aesthetic will change with this conversion in the future.

[0086] This entire discussion, carried out in the North Hemisphere, can be applied to the South Hemisphere by replacing South with North for facing the Sun. In our Northern Hemisphere, near tropical position, the Sun is largely overhead during summers, its trajectory flattening out towards the Southern horizon in winter. So, facing the Sun for high flux use requires the Southern face angle of the panels to be made more steep in winter and flatter in summer to reduce 0 and thereby increase cosine(0).

[0087] Coming to prior art, between 2010 and 2018, when experts had all possibilities for 4 black body panels alone, they chose all to be South facing alone, which turned out to be inadequate. Hot water at bathing time had to be electrically heated in the winters, incurring large expense. Clearly the design then was inadequate for the many reasons discussed here.

[0088] Fog is a concern in panel positioning, as it commonly occurs in winter. Since it mostly occurs in the coldest weeks and mostly in the morning, it cuts the efficacy of the East-facing sprinters and South facing panels in the mornings, not the West facing marathoners that go active later in the day. The demand from the sprinters is a topping up demand, which in such a case has to be paid by a non-solar means to the topping-up extent that the sprinters are primarily charged with.

[0089] The black body solar panels have a unique problem. Around sunset, convection currents stop and the water outside the hot tank, occupying the panels and pipings gets stuck in position, losing heat quickly through the night as the panels radiate the heat away. Despite insulation, the pipes also lose heat quickly as their surface area to volume ratio is high compared to the tank and hence heat loss. This problem has a two-part solution - reduce this volume, e.g. the piping part, and / or, pull out this hot water once convection has stopped. Since all panels sit at a height in a building compared to its users, the pulling out can easily be done by blocking the path from the tank, opening a path instead from the cold water tank beyond the blocking and pulling the plug on the hot water to be drained. The hot water can be captured in an insulated tank at the bottom use part of the building, say in the kitchen, and used at leisure after sunset. This reduces the load on the system at night, which is a useful advantage. By sizing the bottom tank right, only the hot water comes in and the tank can be cut off at full before convection from the cold tank disrupts the advantage. This choreography can be manually carried out, or automatically carried out by the appropriate (robotic / remote-controlled) valves.

[0090] Photovoltaic solar panels have a different problem. The large charges and currents they generate have to travel significant distance before getting transferred to a battery bank, the wiring therefor having to be thick for reducing resistance and hence energy loss in transmission. Even though this path is a direct current, DC path, the nature of the charges and current is fluctuating, where capacitance of the path becomes an issue, just like in an alternating current, AC system. This problem is analogous to the water capacity problem of the water held in black body subsystem, the solution for this is solely this capacity reduction, which boils down to the wiring length reduction which additionally reduces resistance on its own. This wiring path design is an important consideration in photovoltaic planning, similar to piping planning for black body panels, where piping length serves no benefit and is best minimised for lesser heat loss, and time waste for the water in these pipes, at least.

[0091] Finally, we’d like to point out inherent advantages of black body solar panels over photovoltaic ones for heating water. The capped temperature in a black body panel makes them inherently safe against overheating water, its tank and house plumbing. It also reduces the extent of steaming, which again is beneficial.

[0092] The sunrise angle at Adbhut House rooftop is 5 degrees in this flat neighbourhood. Cos(45) = 0.7071, which we take as the lowest flux discounting we are willing to accept, which gives us 5 + 45 = 50 as the normal angle for the South-East facing panels, which the Sun reaches at about 10:30 AM in mid-December, spending 3 hours in the travel from sunrise, with sunlight being white or past scattering from 8 AM onwards. For an angle x to the horizon, i.e. sunrise, x + 45 is the normal angle that we recommend in an arbitrary rooftop with open view all around. In Adbhut House, the Sun reaches the angle x + 70 = 75 degrees, along Sun’s trajectory at 12:30 PM, whereupon the East facing wall supporting the panels starts blocking sunlight in midDecember. Thus our deployment is not on an open rooftop and hence only views the range of angles [5 .. 75], Adjusting for such a limitation, our recommendation becomes the lesser of x + 45 and the average of the range limits as the normal angle, which comes to (5 + 75) / 2 = 40 degrees for Adbhut House. From the normal to 75 degrees, the Sun travels 35 degrees in 2 hours. Cosine (30) = 0.866, so normal +-30 degrees demarcates the best flux zone of reasonable size, which these South-East panels cover well. At the horizons, east and west, what kills power generation is the flux angle whose cosine approaches 0 very quickly at large angles. It is not scattering. In Adbhut House, electrical power generation in mid December on a sunny day begins at 8 AM representing an angle of 10 degrees, the current rising rapidly by 9 AM, representing a larger angle. The sun to the human eye is white at all these angles, implying limited scattering.

[0093] Making a simplifying assumption that scattering between the angles 30 to 150 between the horizons is ignorable, the South-west facing panels are best off having their normal as 90 + y / 2 such that 30 + y is the least angle that offers a visible Sun, for a positive y. Here the normal is the average of 30 + y and 150, giving the central position in the best zone of maximum sunlight under the simplifying assumption. A negative y is rounded to 0, allowing the South-West facing panel to be useful for late scheduled power, arriving at a normal setting of (30 / 2 + 90) = 105 degrees. This covers the normal +- 45-degree zone from 60 to 150 degrees, a late zone on a flat rooftop, later than the prior art South face with normal at 90 degrees, catering to the simplifying assumption.

[0094] The contrast between the movable platform, Figure 5, and fixed best South position for panel area A and fixed solar flux f is given by the ratio of the integrals -TC / 21 TT / 2 Af cos 0 d© / -7t / 21 7t / 2 Af d© = 2 / K = 0.637, namely a committed loss of 36.3%, at least (the rest comes from scattering). 5 Under the discretized movable platform with 3 uniform zones this committed loss reduces to: -TC / 617t / 6 Af cos 0 d© / -TC / 617t / 6Af d© = (2sin(7t / 6)) / (2(K / 6)) = 3 / K = 0.955, or just 4.5%. with 2 zones, the committed loss is: -TC / 4 17t / 4 Af cos 0 d© / -TC / 417t / 4 Af d© = (2sin(7t / 4)) / (2(K / 4)) = 0.7071 * 4 / TI = 0.9 or 10%.

[0095] This exercise shows that to keep this loss within 10%, the sky must be split into 2 halves or more to keep the normal within 45 degrees of deviation from the sunlight. A South facing panel works well when the Sun is between 45 degrees and 135 degrees. Scattering too is the least in this zone, when the Sun is largely overhead and traverses the least of an atmospheric path.

[0096] A 3-zone split with the normal positions of 45 degrees, 90 degrees, and 135 degrees is close to the best as it reduces 0 where it matters the most, namely overhead Sun, with least scattering, trading off the Sun at the horizons, when scattering has cut away the profit anyway.

[0097] An analogous result applies to the South-West facing black body panels. Although the panels can see the West Sunset horizon, the power at that juncture is low enough to not raise the hot tank water much, unless cold water has just been put in. It does not hurt the hot tank water temperature either, as convection stops when hot tank water is hotter than the panels’ water.

[0098] Given all this, the only way to raise a hot tank’s water to the capping temperature is to have sufficient number of panels in the sweet zone of normal +- 30 degrees or so that can raise the tank temperature completely. Not much happens prior or after this zone so the water thus heated has to be kept hot by insulation or further heating means for use past a night. Keeping unused West-facing slots around can be useful for catering to unplanned need growth, for example, the necklace we have designed with sparse use of space. Note also, that the South-East panels also pack a similar heat capacity as the South-West panels, since the sweet zone for both is similar. Alternatively, the movable platform is a different way of increasing the perfect zone time and thus the tank temperature.

[0099] The one-dimensional analysis thus far has considered only the East-to-West direction, the Sun directly overhead, and angles vis-a-vis that axis. The sky view is not one dimensional and the angle along North-South has been completely ignored. Assuming a constant such angle for sunlight versus the normal, Z, a cos(Z) term multiplies and reduces the efficiency everywhere. If Z is bad enough, entire efficiency disappears. The movable platform adjusts to all dimensions gracefully and suffers from no Z term. The Z term and scattering combine to reduce average daily power from peak expectations on a large scale, as has been mentioned before. The discussion of the Sun rising at 10 degrees is actually towards South-East, as opposed to East in December. In summer, it is to the East, so the trajectory clearly flattens out towards the South, in winter, for Adbhut House. The fixed normal calculations are specific to a particular season, as the normals have to bend Southwards or Northwards to adjust to a changing Z. A central Z may be fixed to, or the panel normal adjusted to Z periodically, say manually, per season, with the panel supports catering to such minor adjustments.

[0100] Having the normal at 90 degrees in the Sun’s trajectory, i.e. only South facing panels, for photovoltaics has a problem. The peak power comes for all at the same time, around noon, which may not be entirely usable at that time. As argued above, the heating supply for black body panels does not last till the end of the day, so photovoltaics can be pulled in at that time, or for late cooling in the summers, a common occurrence, if and only if the photovoltaics have late power. By shifting the normal westward, we can have a subset of the panels peak later and supply this power. Our east-facing panels do this for early in the day, but are poorly placed, since they need to be South-East facing for best power.

[0101] Finally, the demand from black body panels is for peak winter centrally. This makes it convenient to have fixed normal panels, ignoring Z changes completely, the normal being chosen to suit December-January the best. In other months, this choice gets misaligned by Z, but that does not matter, as the demand is also down in these months. Again the movable platform allows perfection, for the contrary cases.

[0102] This concludes our Adbhut House based working example discussion that motivates our teaching and now we shift to a figure-by-figure discussion of the details of the invention.

[0103] Planner Flowchart

[0104] Figure 1 shows the flowchart 100 for the planner. Planning proceeds from the perspective of the Sun, viewing the building as it would from the top, reconstructing (104) a view from the user supplied building maps (102) of the house from the direction of the Sun. Since the building view changes through the day, with different faces of the building visible at different set of times, a set of top photograph-like snapshots of the building are created so that each face seen from the Sun is covered by the process. Each face’s image collected this way, shaded according to the amount of Sun it gets, more sunny brighter, less sunny darker is obtained (106). The process may be done for different season days to be comprehensive. The user is asked to mark out the portions of the building that are his / her so that panels can be put up there (108). The process can recognize, or be told by the user by the marking process as to what parts are shade averse, e.g. a terrace garden, so that panels are not planned for those places. The position of a hot water rooftop tank is similarly marked or discovered (110). Next to the tank, first black body panels are placed in panel-usable space, packing the space as much as possible to maximize the slots in which panels will finally be deployed. This decision-making includes the normal direction identification for the panels, as per the discussion given previously. Sunrise, sunset angles may be user supplied, or if the maps of the neighbourhood are comprehensive enough, computed. Piping and wiring are minimized and their paths planned for aesthetic and compaction reasons, as discussed in the Figure 2 and 3 discussions below.

[0105] Once the black body panels have been decided, with user approval defining the number (s)he needs as per his / her need, the remainder space of the building is dedicated to identifying a maximum number of photovoltaic slots (112). In all the planning, proposed slots maximize the extent of Sun or power generation of each panel, its shade and shelter value for the space below allowing the user to actually deploy panels later in a sequence that maximizes these values in the slot subset that actually gets panels. Awnings, sheds, visible in the photographs, just like a terrace garden, are particularly subject to replacement with panel equivalents. The black body slots preferably attempt to cover both sprinter and marathoner panels and get user approval.

[0106] Movable platform deployment, as discussed in Figure 5, may best be carried out by bunching slots on a platform apiece, to reduce cost. Such partitioning is also proposed. For fixed-angle panels, which may be seasonally changeable, as per the angle Z discussed before, the deployment support may be panel specific.

[0107] In an example, the invention is described with reference to heating of water. However, it should be understood that that any fluid may be heated in way similar as described above.

[0108] Aesthetic Parallel Piping and Wiring Partitions

[0109] Figure 2 shows a solar-power-capturing-system comprising water panels (black body solar panels) as blue rectangles (202) and photovoltaic panels (204) as green rectangles. A common organization is shown, of panel partitions, the partitions being connected in parallel with each other, and within a partition, the panels being sequenced. Three water panel partitions are shown, one a triple sequence, depicting the necklace planned for Adbhut House, and two singleton partitions each depicting a South-East panel planned for Adbhut House. The partitions and sequences are illustrative here, a different house may show a different solution. Sequencing panels minimizes piping to and fro from a tank (206) and reduces the travel time in such piping. Water gains temperature from panel to panel in a sequence, allowing the tank (206) to raise its temperature quickly and the convection drive per panel moves the water faster through the lesser piping overhead it has to go through per panel.

[0110] Photovoltaic panels (204) generate currents of rated voltage and peak value. The organization here allows their combination in parallel, of singleton sequences, or muti-panel sequences, as per the system and batteries that take the panel input. A large sequence again, is beneficial for reducing wiring size and related capacitance.

[0111] Aesthetic Piping and Wiring Sequences The disclosure here differs from prior art, as in Figure 8, in supporting panels that are sloped along both the North-South direction and East-West direction. This caters to maximizing flux better than the single direction slops in prior art, like Figure 8, which is still better than the prior art sloping only along the North-South direction. Once two-directonal sloping is selected, the black body panel acquires a distinct lowest entry point for water and a distinct exit point for water, that are diagonally opposite to each other. So packing a bunch of water panels require the sequence to be built diagonally, as shown in Figure 3a-3c, in the 3-by-3 mesh 302. A total of 5 diagonals are possible, the singletons ones being shown in green here, to allow the mixing of water and electrical panels to increase the sequence size of the water panels while giving the singleton options to electrical panels that have no such directional complexity. The exemplar mesh here can be placed on one movable platform, for example, compactly.

[0112] Another way to get a sequence of water panels is to raise the later ones 304 like (an invisible) staircase on the slope as shown in figure 3b. The supporting stair below the left panel in this is omitted for simplicity.

[0113] A third way to get a sequence is to tilt each panel on the supporting slope as shown in figure 3c, the tilt flattening the panel slope-wise, raising its bottom in effect, relative to the panel further down on the supporting slope.

[0114] Note that the panels shown on the supporting slope in the figure 3b, below the mesh, are tilted not only along the slope, but also along the perpendicular within the supporting slope to cover the two directions of sloping. So the water enters at the bottom entry along the supporting slope at an entry that is touching the supporting slope and exits at the top from an exit that is raised above the supporting slope. The case for the bottom part of the figure is similar. The mesh by contrast is shown from a vantage point on the normal to the mesh plane.

[0115] Fault Tolerance and Parts

[0116] Figure 4 shows a triangle 402 with vertices t, 1, and r, within the plane of the figure. A triangle is the only polygon that is always coplanar. Any line of the triangle defines an axis along which planes can be spun, just like the spokes of a wheel. Among these infinite plane definitions, the one containing the third vertex, defines a unique plane.

[0117] If the supporting platform for panels is a triangle, the support will never end up warping the plane of the panels. This inherently provides fault tolerance to the platform as it allows movement of its vertices to change the normal of the platform.

[0118] Changing the vertices is carried out by a hydraulic jack 404, shown at the bottom left of the figure. Such j acks are commonly used to lift cars automatically in repair shops. Panels are much lighter than cars, so the load requirement is much lower and pneumatic jacks may also be used, or equivalents. Each jack connects to the triangular platform using a ball and socket joint, so as to allow maximum degree of freedom to the triangular platform’s movement.

[0119] Since only 3 points of movable support are described thus, further supports can be added in a large platform. The are best kept passive 406, so as to not end up warping an edge of the triangle and changing the triangle to a nonplanar polygon. The passive support 406 is similar to the hydraulic jack 404, connecting similarly, but instead of being driven from the bottom, being a hard-to-move piston-with-fins immersed in viscous oil so as to dampen its movement up and down and laterally, by its walls. This passive support 406 this takes windy jerks easily, supporting the platform extensively for the desired purpose.

[0120] Movable Platform

[0121] Figure 5 shows a rectangular plane of panels, e.g. the mesh of Figure 3, sitting atop a movable platform 502 in shape of a triangle. The triangle’s vertices have jacks, the middle of edges being dampener supported.

[0122] Black Body Adjustment

[0123] While movable platforms for electrical panels are easy, connecting wires can have slack, the same is not true for convection-based plumbing pipes. Flexible piping may get the slack to allow movement, but the slack has to perpetually keep the upward direction for heated water. Figure 6 shows a simple device 602 to obtain this direction. The flexible pipe (inlet conduit or outlet conduit as the case may be) passes above a flat upward plane where it can slacken laterally, but not vertically as the plane keeps the upward direction intact. Two such planes sandwiching the inlet conduit / outlet conduit are more than enough, although a box 604 will also insulate the entire path, as shown in Figure 6.

[0124] Panel Awnings and Aesthetic Signatures

[0125] The water panels on the slope in Figure 8 are replaced by fakes as discussed before, using substitute metallic shades. The shades provide shelter and shade to the window beneath them. The base of the shades is similar to the panel base, to replicate their look from outside. On the surface, it can be painted to provide an aesthetic beauty to the substitute shades.

[0126] The organization of these fakes takes the bottom part of Figure 3, raising the fakes on the building’s slope so as to get a wings-beginning-to-rise and fly look for the panels. In Figure 7, the yellow panels 702 depict these top 2 fake panels of the panel necklace planned for Adbhut House. The other three hang in the air, starting from the water panel shown in Figure 8 above the garage top. These are shown as three blue panels 704 in Figure 7 and provide shade to the garage block in addition.

[0127] An awning top design in green electrical panels 706 is shown, with the panels zig zagging to provide shelter, shade, energy, and a very different aesthetic look and different lighting to the floor below. The two solar panels are at an angle towards Wast. It provides shelter and shade to the door and the entrance of the house, to lower the heat entering the house and thus cooling the floor.

[0128] As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present disclosure may be embodied as a method and system. In the specification, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention. Although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation of the scope of the invention.

Claims

I / We claim:

1. A solar-power-capturing system deployed in spaces suited for awnings, canopies, sheds, curtains for simultaneously serving a shading and sheltering purpose, the system comprising: a plurality of black body solar panels for heating a fluid using solar radiation, the plurality of black body solar panels being arranged around a building, the arrangement being done based on mapping of sunny shade areas of the building, aesthetic and functional, piping minimizing opportunity; a plurality of photovoltaic solar panels to generate electrical power, the plurality of photovoltaic solar panels being arranged, based on the mapping, and in an available space, wherein the available space is determined based on the arrangement of the plurality of black body solar panels; a plurality of fake solar panels in a partly sunny spaces aesthetically consistent with the plurality of solar panels; wherein the solar panels provide a cool shade due to conversion of incoming solar radiation into electricity, black body absorption or emission back effect.

2. The solar-power-capturing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mapping is done by creating a three-dimensional (3D) model of the building that can be viewed from Sun’s vantage points along its trajectory in sky and generating 2D snapshots of the building from a set of Sun’s vantage points to determine the sunny area and the shade area.

3. The solar-power-capturing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the solar-power- capturing system is arranged on a movable platform, the movable platform being moved to ensure normal solar flux incidence on the plurality of plurality of black body solar panels and the plurality of black body solar panels throughout day and throughout seasons.

4. The solar-power-capturing system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the movable platform is triangular in shape to ensure planar, safe, undistorted support for solar-power-capturing system.

5. The solar-power-capturing system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the plurality of black body solar panels comprises: an inlet conduit to carry the fluid inside the plurality of black body solar panels, the inlet conduit being flexible to allow movement of the black body solar panel along with the movement of the movable platform; and an outlet conduit to carry out a heated fluid, the outlet conduit being flexible to allow movement of the plurality of black body solar panel along with the movement of the movable platform.

6. The solar-power-capturing system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the plurality of photovoltaic solar panels is coupled with flexible electrical wirings to allow movement of the plurality of the photovoltaic solar panels along with the movement of the movable platform.

7. The solar-power-capturing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the solar powercapturing system is placed on a fixed platform such that the plurality of black body solar panels is arranged based on North-South and East- West axes and based on differences in solar influx in different seasons.

8. A planning and deployment method for deploying solar panels in spaces suited for awnings, canopies, sheds, curtains for simultaneously serving a shading and sheltering purpose, the method comprising: creating a 3D model of building that can be viewed from the Sun’s vantage points along its trajectory in the sky; creating 2D snapshots of the building from a set of Sun vantage points such that each snapshot shows a unique set of building faces, each face in a snapshot shaded part by part according to the extent of shade it gets; annotating in each building face, the areas where panels can be laid out based on user’s input; starting with the hot tank position identify neighbouring power / shade / shelter providing user-approved areas for black body panels, preferably leveraging existing slopes in the building; identifying photovoltaic panel slots in the rest of user-approved power / shade / shelter favouring areas of the building, again leveraging any slopes in the building based on user approval.

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