Solar Concentrator Tracking With Adjustable Lens-Collector Distance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solar concentrator systems using linear Fresnel lenses face efficiency losses due to fixed focal point distances, which are not optimized for varying sun angles throughout the day and seasons, limiting temperature jumps and overall efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A solar concentrator system with a supporting and tracking mechanism allowing the linear concentrating lens and collector to rotate about two axes, where the attachment structure can vary the distance between the lens and collector, ensuring maximum solar concentration by adjusting to changing angles of incidence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a two-axes tracking system is used to maintain perpendicular incidence on the lens, then the angle of incidence is optimized, but the distance between lens and collector cannot be adjusted, causing loss of concentration efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the distance between the lens and collector adjustable through a movable support structure. The collector can move along the optical axis to dynamically adjust its position relative to the lens, ensuring that the collector remains at the focal point even as the angle of incidence changes throughout the day and seasons.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds another dimension of movement by allowing the collector to move not only in the tracking directions (east-west and north-south) but also along the optical axis (depth direction). This third degree of freedom enables independent adjustment of the lens-collector distance, decoupling the tracking function from the focusing function.
2Temperature
If collectors are placed in very long straight lines to maximize efficiency, then temperature jumps are achieved, but the two-axes system does not allow adequate space or flexibility for such configurations
Solution Approach 1:
The movable support structure enables dynamic adjustment of the collector position along the optical axis, allowing the system to accommodate long series connections of collectors while maintaining proper focal distance for each lens-collector pair throughout the tracking cycle.
3Ease of manufacture
If the distance between lens and collector is fixed, then the structure is simple, but it is not possible to vary the distance to optimize solar radiation concentration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the fixed distance structure into a dynamic adjustable structure. The collector is mounted on a movable support that can translate along the optical axis, enabling the distance to be optimized for different solar positions while maintaining relatively simple mechanical components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This system maintains optimal solar concentration by dynamically adjusting the lens-collector distance, enhancing efficiency and enabling longer, more stable solar tracking configurations, thereby improving temperature jumps and overall energy collection.
Implementation Method 1
systems for solar collection by refraction and to a system capable of tracking the rays of the sun
Implementation Method 2
A type of concentrator existing today is the one which uses linear Fresnel lenses for concentrating the rays of the sun on the fluid
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a solar concentrator with a supporting and solar tracking system, which proposes a solar concentrator comprising one or several lenses and one or several collectors and at least two attachment structures (2) for attaching the collector solar and the lens and at least two fastening structures (1) which allow a rotation according to a longitudinal axis. The attachment structure can be rotated or displaced, allowing the displacement of the lens (3) and the collector (4) in opposite directions and the variation of their relative distance, which solves the problem of the variation of the focal distance for each individual angle of incidence of the radiation.