Light-guide solar energy concentrator
First Claim
1. A light-guide solar concentrator comprising:
- a light-condensing layer comprising;
a focusing surface comprising a plurality of focusing optical elements, each focusing optical element adapted for receiving and focusing sunlight incident thereon; and
a plurality of collimating optical elements, each collimating optical element adapted for receiving the focused sunlight from a corresponding focusing optical element and collimating the focused sunlight; and
an optical waveguide layer spaced apart from and optically coupled to the light-condensing layer, the optical waveguide layer having a top surface, a bottom surface and an optical exit surface,the bottom surface comprising;
a plurality of deflectors, each deflector having a deflecting surface for receiving light from a corresponding one of the plurality of collimating optical elements and redirecting the light toward the optical exit surface of the optical waveguide layer; and
a plurality of bottom reflecting elements between each of the deflectors, andthe top surface comprising a plurality of top reflecting elements,the one or more top reflecting elements and the plurality of bottom reflecting elements for guiding the light therebetween toward the optical exit surface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A light-guide solar concentrator that requires less precision to assemble and manufacture than some other two-layer solar concentrators has a light-condensing layer and an optical waveguide layer. The light-condensing layer includes a plurality of focusing elements for focusing incident sunlight and a plurality of corresponding collimating elements for collimating the light for output to the optical waveguide layer. The optical waveguide layer receives the collimated light and has a plurality of deflectors for redirecting the light for lateral transmission through the optical waveguide layer toward an exit surface. A secondary optic optically coupled to the exit surface can also be provided to redirect the light toward a light collection area where a solar energy collector can be placed to harvest the concentrated sunlight.
168 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A light-guide solar concentrator comprising:
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a light-condensing layer comprising; a focusing surface comprising a plurality of focusing optical elements, each focusing optical element adapted for receiving and focusing sunlight incident thereon; and a plurality of collimating optical elements, each collimating optical element adapted for receiving the focused sunlight from a corresponding focusing optical element and collimating the focused sunlight; and an optical waveguide layer spaced apart from and optically coupled to the light-condensing layer, the optical waveguide layer having a top surface, a bottom surface and an optical exit surface, the bottom surface comprising; a plurality of deflectors, each deflector having a deflecting surface for receiving light from a corresponding one of the plurality of collimating optical elements and redirecting the light toward the optical exit surface of the optical waveguide layer; and a plurality of bottom reflecting elements between each of the deflectors, and the top surface comprising a plurality of top reflecting elements, the one or more top reflecting elements and the plurality of bottom reflecting elements for guiding the light therebetween toward the optical exit surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification