NON-LATITUDE AND VERTICALLY MOUNTED SOLAR ENERGY CONCENTRATORS
First Claim
1. A solar energy concentrator having a front configured to be exposed to sunlight and comprisinga photovoltaic (PV) module layer including a PV cell that defines a PV plane corresponding to the front;
- a first diffraction grating disposed in a first plane that is substantially parallel to the PV plane, the first diffraction grating having a first diffraction pattern defining a first direction; and
a second diffraction disposed in a second plane that is substantially parallel to the PV plane, the second diffraction grating having a second diffraction pattern defining a second direction, the first and second directions forming an angle;
wherein said concentrator is configured to have light diffracted by at least one of the first and second diffraction gratings to be totally internally reflected towards the PV cell at a surface of the concentrator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A solar-energy concentrator optimized for operating in a substantially vertical orientation and method for collecting sunlight with such concentrator. The concentrator includes a photovoltaic (PV) module having a PV cell and layers containing diffraction gratings that may be spatially stacked or multiplexed. Diffraction gratings define corresponding diffraction patterns optimized for solar energy harvesting depending on which direction the concentrator is facing. Additionally, a method of designing a hologram for concentrating solar energy onto an adjacent photovoltaic chip is provided. The method includes selecting a photovoltaic chip material, selecting a photovoltaic cell geometry, selecting a first construction angle, selecting an installation latitude, selecting an installation tilt angle, and modeling hologram performance as a function of a second construction angle and a design wavelength.
62 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A solar energy concentrator having a front configured to be exposed to sunlight and comprising
a photovoltaic (PV) module layer including a PV cell that defines a PV plane corresponding to the front; -
a first diffraction grating disposed in a first plane that is substantially parallel to the PV plane, the first diffraction grating having a first diffraction pattern defining a first direction; and a second diffraction disposed in a second plane that is substantially parallel to the PV plane, the second diffraction grating having a second diffraction pattern defining a second direction, the first and second directions forming an angle; wherein said concentrator is configured to have light diffracted by at least one of the first and second diffraction gratings to be totally internally reflected towards the PV cell at a surface of the concentrator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of designing a hologram for concentrating solar energy onto a photovoltaic chip, the hologram being characterized by a first construction angle, a second construction angle and a design wavelength, the method comprising:
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selecting a photovoltaic chip material; selecting a photovoltaic cell geometry; selecting a first construction angle; selecting an installation latitude; selecting an installation tilt angle; modeling hologram performance as a function of a second construction angle and a design wavelength; and selecting a combination of second construction angle and design wavelength that yields the optimum performance for a given tilt angle and latitude. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A photovoltaic panel comprising:
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a photovoltaic chip embedded in a transparent material, the transparent material having a first surface and a second surface, the surfaces being mutually parallel, the photovoltaic chip having a spectral response such that the photovoltaic chip is capable of converting incident light within a predetermined wavelength range into electrical current; a primary hologram located above and adjacent to the photovoltaic chip and embedded in the transparent material such that it is substantially coplanar with said photovoltaic chip, the primary hologram being characterized by a first construction angle, a second construction angle and a design wavelength; wherein the primary hologram and the photovoltaic chip are substantially parallel to the first and second surfaces; wherein the primary hologram acts as a diffraction grating, diffracting light within said predetermined wavelength range that is incident on the first surface of the transparent material at a first angle laterally at a second angle in a downward direction toward the photovoltaic chip; and wherein the second angle is such that light diffracted by the primary hologram undergoes total internal reflection upon intersection with the second surface. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification