LIGHT-GUIDE SOLAR PANEL AND METHOD OF FABRICATION THEREOF

摘要

The present invention is that of a solar energy system that uses a light-guide solar panel (LGSP) to trap light inside a dielectric or other transparent panel and propagates the light to one of the panel edges for harvesting by a solar energy collector such as a photovoltaic cell. This allows for very thin modules whose thickness is comparable to the height of the solar energy collector. This eliminates eliminating the depth requirements inherent in traditional concentrated photovoltaic solar energy systems. A light guide solar panel has a deflecting layer, a light guide layer and a solar cell in optical communication with the light guide layer. The deflecting layer receives light at a first surface and inputs the light into the light guide layer. The light guide layer propagates the light to the solar cell, which is aligned generally parallel to the input surface.

主权项

1. A solar concentrator comprising:
a light-insertion layer that is transmissive to sunlight, the light-insertion layer having a plurality of optical deflecting elements for redirecting light impinging thereon into an optical waveguide slab via total internal reflection; the optical waveguide slab being transmissive to sunlight and having:
a first reflective surface;a plurality of reflectors opposite the first reflective surface and proximate the light-insertion layer; andan output surface;
the optical waveguide slab being substantially wedge-shaped in cross-section between the output surface and an upstream edge of the optical waveguide slab, with the wedge opening toward the output surface,the optical waveguide slab being optically coupled to the optical deflecting elements of the light-insertion layer to receive light therefrom,the optical deflecting elements, the first reflective surface and the plurality of reflectors being positioned and arranged such that received light from the light insertion layer is guided through the optical waveguide slab towards the output surface via reflections between the first reflective surface and the plurality of reflectors, andthe optical deflecting elements and the reflectors being arranged along arcs of concentric circles; and a secondary optical element that is transmissive to sunlight, the secondary optical element having:
an optical entry surface optically coupled to the output surface to receive light therefrom;an optical exit surface; andat least one secondary reflective surface positioned to redirect at least a portion of the light received through the optical entry surface, to the optical exit surface; the solar concentrator having a substantially planar shape.