Nighttime solar cell
First Claim
1. An electricity generating device for use in an environment having an ambient pressure, using an electricity generating cell comprising:
- a first junction surface disposed in contact with a first semiconductor material;
a second junction surface disposed in contact with a second semiconductor material;
a third junction surface disposed in contact with the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material;
the first and second junction surfaces disposed within a pressure cell having a pressure less than the ambient pressure; and
the first and second junction surfaces at a temperature different from the third surface junction producing a thermoelectric potential between the first and second junction surfaces.
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Abstract
This invention is a thermoelectric-photovoltaic device for converting electrical energy from both thermal radiation and sunlight. Thermoelectric energy is produced from thermoelectric cells when a temperature difference is present between two different semiconductor materials. Photovoltaic energy is produced from photovoltaic cells when two different semiconductor materials are exposed to sunlight. To achieve increased electrical energy production, one of the semiconductor materials is placed in a cell having a reduced pressure atmosphere to increase the radiative energy thermal exchange with the black sky at night.
58 Citations
98 Claims
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1. An electricity generating device for use in an environment having an ambient pressure, using an electricity generating cell comprising:
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a first junction surface disposed in contact with a first semiconductor material; a second junction surface disposed in contact with a second semiconductor material; a third junction surface disposed in contact with the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material; the first and second junction surfaces disposed within a pressure cell having a pressure less than the ambient pressure; and the first and second junction surfaces at a temperature different from the third surface junction producing a thermoelectric potential between the first and second junction surfaces. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. An electricity generating device using an electricity generating cell having a thermal resistivity, comprising:
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a first junction surface disposed in contact with a first semiconductor material; a second junction surface disposed in contact with a second semiconductor material; a third junction surface disposed in contact with the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material; the first and second junction surfaces at a temperature different from the third surface junction producing a thermoelectric potential between the first and second junction surfaces; the first semiconductor material is disposed in a distance between the first junction surface and the third junction surface; and the first semiconductor material has a geometry which increases said thermal resistivity as compared to a second electricity generating cell having a first semiconductor material having a straight geometry which spans a substantially equivalent distance. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83)
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84. A method of converting thermal radiation and sunlight into electrical energy utilizing a device having a full sunlight exposure position, a partial sunlight exposure position, and a full shade position, comprising:
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forming the device by electrically connecting, in a parallel fashion, at least one electricity generating cell with at least one photovoltaic cell; producing electrical energy from both the photovoltaic cell and the electricity generating cell in the full sunlight exposure position; and producing energy from the electricity generating cell in the full shade position. - View Dependent Claims (85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90)
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91. A method of converting thermal radiation into electrical energy, comprising:
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utilizing an energy generating device comprising a first junction surface disposed in contact with a first semiconductor material;
a second junction surface disposed in contact with a second semiconductor material;
a third junction surface disposed in contact with the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material;
the first and second junction surfaces at a temperature different from the third surface junction producing a thermoelectric potential between the first and second junction surfaces;
the first semiconductor material is disposed in a distance between the first junction surface and the third junction surface; and
the first semiconductor material has a geometry which increases said thermal resistivity as compared to a second electricity generating cell having a first semiconductor material having a straight geometry which spans a substantially equivalent distance; andproducing electrical energy. - View Dependent Claims (92, 93, 94, 95)
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96. A method of converting thermal radiation into electrical energy, comprising:
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utilizing an electricity generating cell comprising a first junction surface disposed in contact with a first semiconductor material, a second junction surface disposed in contact with a second semiconductor material, a third junction surface disposed in contact with the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material, the first and second junction surfaces at a temperature different from the third surface junction producing a thermoelectric potential between the first and second junction surfaces, and the first and second junction surfaces are disposed within a pressure cell having a pressure less than the ambient pressure; and producing electrical energy. - View Dependent Claims (97, 98)
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Specification