Photovoltaic receiver for beamed power
First Claim
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1. A photovoltaic (PV) array comprising:
- a plurality of photovoltaic (PV) cells, each PV cell of the plurality of PV cells being configured to receive at least one optical power beam and convert power from the at least one optical power beam to electrical power; and
wherein the PV array has a surface geometry arrangement in which at least some of the plurality of PV cells are disposed at an angle with respect to the at least one optical power beam to substantially equalize irradiance of the plurality of PV cells received from the at least one optical power beam across the PV array;
wherein the surface geometry arrangement is a sawtooth configuration having a plurality of cusps and a plurality of slopes; and
wherein the plurality of slopes increase progressively in angle from an edge of the PV array to a center of the PV array; and
wherein the surface geometry arrangement compensates for a beam intensity curve approximately equal to a beam intensity curve of a conical array.
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Abstract
A system and method directed to using a PV array and laser beamed-power for aircraft and satellites is provided. More specifically, a system and method directed to a PV receiver that reduces power losses caused by variations in irradiance is provided. The use of a sloped array with a grooved cover glass coated with reflective coating allows the system and method to receive the laser beamed power at an angle and reduce any losses while producing a maximum power output. In addition, the use of capacitors in parallel with the PV cells in the array reduces resistive losses caused by short-term optical fluctuations and assists in maximizing power output for the array.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A photovoltaic (PV) array comprising:
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a plurality of photovoltaic (PV) cells, each PV cell of the plurality of PV cells being configured to receive at least one optical power beam and convert power from the at least one optical power beam to electrical power; and wherein the PV array has a surface geometry arrangement in which at least some of the plurality of PV cells are disposed at an angle with respect to the at least one optical power beam to substantially equalize irradiance of the plurality of PV cells received from the at least one optical power beam across the PV array; wherein the surface geometry arrangement is a sawtooth configuration having a plurality of cusps and a plurality of slopes; and wherein the plurality of slopes increase progressively in angle from an edge of the PV array to a center of the PV array; and wherein the surface geometry arrangement compensates for a beam intensity curve approximately equal to a beam intensity curve of a conical array. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22)
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17. A method of converting laser beam power to electrical energy with a photovoltaic (PV) array, the PV array comprised of a plurality of PV cells, the method comprising:
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providing the PV array on an airborne vehicle, the PV array having a sawtooth configuration having a plurality of cusps and a plurality of slopes wherein the plurality of slopes increase progressively in angle from an edge of the PV array to a center of the PV array, in which at least some of the plurality of PV cells are disposed at an angle with respect to the at least one optical power beam arranged to substantially equalize irradiance of the plurality of PV cells received from a laser beam across the PV array and wherein the surface geometry arrangement compensates for a beam intensity curve approximately equal to a beam intensity curve of a conical array; directing the at least one optical power beam toward the PV array; receiving the at least one optical power beam on the PV array; converting the at least one optical power beam into electrical power; and powering the airborne vehicle with the converted electrical power; wherein the at least one optical power beam has a time-averaged intensity profile I(r) represented by the following equation;
I(r)=I0exp(−
r2/σ
2)where; I0=intensity at the beam'"'"'s center r=distance from the beam'"'"'s center σ
=1/e fall-off distance. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification