332 results about "Concentrator photovoltaic" patented technology

A concentrator photovoltaic solar cell array for terrestrial use for generating electrical power from solar radiation including a central support which is rotatable about its central longitudinal axis, a support frame carried by, and rotatable with respect to, the central support about an axis orthogonal to said central longitudinal axis, and a solar array mounted on the support frame. The solar cell array includes a plurality of Fresnel concentrator lenses and multijunction III-V compound semiconductor solar cells each producing in excess of 10 watts of DC power. An actuator is provided for rotating the central support and the support frame so that the solar cell array is maintained substantially orthogonal to the rays of the sun as the sun traverses the sky.

The present invention relates to photovoltaic power systems., photovoltaic concentrator modules, and related methods. In particular, the present invention features concentrator modules having interior points of attachment for an articulating mechanism and/or an articulating mechanism that has a unique arrangement of chassis members so as to isolate bending, etc. from being transferred among the chassis members. The present invention also features adjustable solar panel mounting features and/or mounting features with two or more degrees of freedom. The present invention also features a mechanical fastener for secondary optics in a concentrator module.

This invention provides an inorganic coating-protected unitary graphene material article for concentrated photovoltaic cell heat dissipation. The article comprises at least a layer of unitary graphene material having two primary surfaces and an electrically non-conducting layer of inorganic coating deposited on at least one of the primary surfaces, wherein the unitary graphene material is obtained from heat-treating a graphene oxide gel at a heat treatment temperature higher than 100° C. and contains chemically bonded graphene molecules or chemically merged graphene planes having an inter-graphene spacing no greater than 0.40 nm, preferably less than 0.337 nm, and most preferably less than 0.3346 nm.

An offshore vessel embodies a mobile buoyant energy recovery system enabled to extract energy from solar power. An exemplary energy recovery system comprises concentrating solar thermal power systems (CSP) or concentrating photovoltaic power (CPV) systems on the deck of the vessel. Within the vessel hull, ballast water serves multiple purposes. The ballast not only stabilizes the vessel, but also provides reactant for hydrogen electrolysis or ammonia synthesis, or steam for a turbine. For CPV systems the ballast conducts heat as a coolant improving the efficiency and durability of photovoltaic cells. For CSP systems the ballast water becomes superheated steam through a primary heat exchanger in the concentrator. In some embodiments, some steam from the CSP primary heat exchanger or from the CPV coolant system undergoes high-pressure electrolysis of enhanced efficiency due to its high temperature. In some embodiments, the remaining steam that did not undergo electrolysis drives a steam turbine providing electrical current for electrolysis. A secondary heat exchanger takes heat from the steam expelled from an energy storage process to efficiently distill ballast water at a lower temperature thus minimizing corrosion and build-up of scale. A remote control Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) determines position, navigation, configuration, and operation of the preferably unmanned modular mobile buoyant energy recovery structure based on Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), Velocity Performance Prediction (VPP) models, Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) and various onboard sensors and controls.

A method for bonding a concentrating photovoltaic receiver module to a heat sink using a reactive multilayer foil as a local heat source, together with layers of solder, to provide a high thermal conductivity interface with long term reliability and ease of assembly.

The invention relates to a converging photovoltaic power generation CPV module, which comprises a Fresnel lens, converging cell slices, a heat radiator and a flat box, wherein the Fresnel lens is fixed on the flat box, and is covered with a toughened glass protective layer; the converging cell slices are fixed under the flat box, and are corresponding to the focus of the Fresnel lens; moreover, the converging cell slices are connected in series or in parallel, and are fixed with the heat radiator on the edge of the converging cell slices; and the CPV module is fixed with a two-dimensional fully-automatic sun tracker. The CPV module is characterized in that a light guiding funnel is arranged between the Fresnel lens and the converging cell slices; and the lower part of the light guiding funnel is fixed with part of a secondary lens. The converging photovoltaic power generation CPV module has the advantages that the CPV module improves power generation efficiency and reduces power generation cost.

A concentrator photovoltaic solar cell array for terrestrial use for generating electrical power from solar radiation including a multifunction III-V compound semiconductor solar cell with material composition and bandgaps to maximize absorption in the AM1.5 spectral region, and a thickness of one micron or greater so as to be able to produce in excess of 15 watts of DC power with conversion efficiency in excess of 37%. The aggregate surface area of the grid pattern covers approximately 2 to 5% of the top cell.

The present invention provides an encapsulant material with a modified index of refraction for increasing the acceptance angle of a concentrated photovoltaic system. The encapsulant material may include filler material of a higher index of refraction than the encapsulant. The filler material may be particulates that are smaller than the wavelength of light converted to electricity by a solar cell.

The invention relates to a light converging device, a design method thereof and a light-converging photovoltaic power generation device. The light-converging photovoltaic power generation device comprises a light converging device and a photovoltaic cell, wherein the light converging device comprises a focusing lens used for converging external light lays, and the photovoltaic cell is used for receiving the light rays and converting optical energy into electrical energy, the light converging device further comprises a secondary lens, and the focusing lens and the secondary lens are arranged in sequence from top to bottom. The secondary lens comprises a first optical surface located on the top of the secondary lens and a second optical surface located in the middle position of the bottom of the secondary lens, the first optical surface is arranged on the focal plane of the focusing lens and converges light rays emitted by the focusing lens to the second optical surface, and the light rays are transmitted to the photovoltaic cell through the second optical surface. By applying the invention, the energy loss of light rays reaching the surface of the photovoltaic cell is reduced, the illumination intensity of light rays irradiated on the surface of the photovoltaic cell is uniform, and the application range is wide.

Techniques for electrical power transfer in photovoltaic systems are provided. In one aspect, a photovoltaic system includes an array of photovoltaic power producing elements (e.g., concentrator photovoltaic cells); a power receiving unit; and at least one ratiometric DC to DC converter connected to both the array of photovoltaic power producing elements and the power receiving unit. The array of photovoltaic power producing elements can include a plurality of the photovoltaic power producing elements connected in series or in parallel. In another aspect, a method of transferring electrical power from an array of photovoltaic power producing elements to a power receiving unit includes the following step. At least one ratiometric DC to DC converter is connected to both the array of photovoltaic power producing elements and the power receiving unit. The at least one ratiometric DC to DC converter is configured to alter a voltage output from the array.

A light concentrating optic for use with a photovoltaic device includes a light pipe having a first end portion for receiving light and a second end portion for outputting concentrated light. An optical element is coupled to the light pipe on the first end portion and configured to form an optical interface between the light pipe and the optical element. The optical element includes at least one light transmitting surface configured to redirect incident light entering the optical element to disperse the light to fall incident on side walls of the light pipe to increase homogeneity and intensity of light through the second end portion.

Embodiments of the present invention seal an inside volume of an energy conversion unit from the outside atmosphere. A chamber for housing an energy conversion unit includes a lid having a first rim, a housing having a second rim, and a continuous seal sealing the first rim to the second rim. The lid and the housing form a volume with an atmosphere for securely housing an energy conversion unit. The seal has sidewalls that extend from the first rim to the second rim and includes an embedded ribbon that extends along a length of the seal such that the atmosphere is controlled by the continuous seal. Preferably, the embedded ribbon oscillates between the sidewalls in a pattern, such as a wave, a square wave, or a zig-zag. Preferably, the energy conversion unit is a concentrator photovoltaic device that includes optics for focusing light onto a photo-sensitive area of the photovoltaic device.

Apparatus and methods according to various aspects of the present invention may operate in conjunction with a light collection array. One or more light redirectors located at or near inactive areas of light collection arrays may redirect incident light to active areas. In one embodiment, the light redirector may be implemented with additional light redirectors and/or a concentrating photovoltaic collection system.

An increased efficiency Concentrator Photovoltaic System having a plurality of solar cells laterally spaced from each other on a substrate panel. The solar cells are mounted on electrically conductive areas of an otherwise non-conductive top surface of the substrate with each cell isolated from another by a non-conductive area. The individual cells are connected using ribbons or wires, between the front contact of the solar cells to the conductive area of another cell to form a circuit connecting the cells in a desired configuration. A plurality of tubular enclosures for concentrating light on the solar cells are mounted directly above the solar cells.

A solar cell includes a solar cell element that converts sunlight concentrated by a concentrating lens into electricity, a receiver substrate on which the solar cell element is placed, and a resin sealing portion that resin-seals the solar cell element. The solar cell further includes a reflecting member that has an irradiation window that is disposed facing the solar cell element and through which sunlight is directed to the solar cell element, a light introducing window that is formed larger than the irradiation window and disposed facing the concentrating lens and through which sunlight is introduced, and a reflecting face that is formed between the irradiation window and the light introducing window and that reflects and guides sunlight toward the solar cell element.

The invention discloses a curved-top total reflection type twice concentration and illumination balancing integration device, which is in a V-shaped prism trapezoid structure made of solid glass. In the invention, a curved-top surface is plated with an anti-reflection film, a curved-top bottom surface is the incidence surface of a light beam, a lower bottom surface is the emitting surface of the light beam, and the area of the curved-top bottom surface is larger than the area of the lower bottom surface. The curved-top total reflection type twice concentration and illumination balancing integration device works in the following steps: the light beam is changed into a convergent light beam by passing through the once condenser of a spotlight photovoltaic module group, the convergent light beam with a large caliber enters the incidence surface of the curved-top total reflection type twice concentration and illumination balancing integration device, after the refraction of the incidence surface and multiple total reflections of sidewalls, the convergent light beam is then refracted from the emitting surface to the solar cell with a small caliber, thereby achieving the purpose of twice concentration, and the multiple total reflections from the sidewalls can promote the light spots with uneven intensity distribution to be more even, thereby realizing the homogenization of the solar cell photic surface light spot.

This invention relates to a quasi-two dimension tracking light-gathering photovoltaic generating device including a light-gathering solar energy battery component array parts mounted on a one dimension automatic tracking solar unit, both ends of the shaft of which are supported on frames with high and low ends by bearings separately and at least one of the frames includes a highly regulated unit, which realizes the result of a two-dimension tracking solar system with a simple height regulation unit based on a one-dimension automatic tracking solar unit.

This invention relates to a solar energy collector that converts solar radiation into both electrical and thermal energy. More specifically this invention relates to a concentrating solar energy collector with an integrated construction that minimizes cost, bulk, and weight, and maximizes overall efficiency. Typical non-concentrating solar collectors use photovoltaic cells over the entirety of their surface. These solar cells are the most expensive part of the collector. This invention discloses using a reflector to concentrate the incident radiation on photovoltaic cells with one-twentieth the area of the reflector, and transferring the co-generated thermal energy into a working fluid pumped through the cell support structure.

The invention relates to a system and method for enabling solar concentrating photovoltaic and medium-and low-temperature thermochemistry to jointly generate energy by using spectral frequency division and belongs to the solar full spectrum technical field. According to the technical schemes of the invention, a spectral frequency divider is arranged under a Fresnel lens; the spectral frequency divider divides solar spectra at 1200nm wavelength; sunlight of which the wavelength is smaller than 1200nm is transmitted to the surface of a concentrating photovoltaic battery; sunlight of which the wavelength is larger than 1200nm is transmitted to a medium-and low-temperature thermochemical reaction device and a low-temperature heat exchanger so as to provide heat energy required by an endothermic reaction; the low-temperature heat exchanger and the medium-and low-temperature thermochemical reaction device are communicated with each other through a pipeline so as to form a loop; and therefore, the full-spectrum utilization of solar energy is achieved under a condition that the thermal coupling of the concentrating photovoltaic battery and the thermochemical reaction device is avoided; andthe spectral frequency division technology is adopted, so that the temperature of the concentrating photovoltaic battery can be decreased from the source, and therefore, the normal operation of the photovoltaic battery can be ensured, and high-grade thermal energy of a higher temperature can be obtained to provide energy required by medium-and low-temperature thermochemical reactions.