Solar energy collector yielding high temps. using lenses - in which simple fluid filled and/or Fresnel lenses concentrate solar radiation onto elongate target contg. fluid

摘要

The target of a solar collector is arranged as a straight line at the focus of a simple lens or lenses of the fluid filled and/or fresnel type concentrating the solar radiation. Pref. the target consists of a tube within which the line of focus falls, and contg. >=1 fluid. The collector may be movable to follow the sun, depending upon the season and time of day, or the individual parts may be relatively movable. The fluid lenses absorb some energy, and this energy can be recovered for use, e.g. in pre-heating the fluid which circulates through the target. The target pref. contains several different fluids of different b.pt., the focus being arranged in or on the fluid with the highest b.pt. by varying the flow rates of the different fluids, the fluids can be heated to different temps. for different applications. Reflectors can also be used to direct the radiation on to the lenses. The collector is used in distn. of water, e.g. sea water, in the prodn. of electricity from photo-voltaic cells, in domestic heating and in steam prodn., and >1 of these can be achieved in a single collector installation, using the different temp. fluids which can be produced.