Patent Application
20120298177
Certain example embodiments relate to improved concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems, and/or methods of making the same. More particularly, certain example embodiments relate to techniques for increasing the efficiency of CPV systems by moving the solar cells within the systems to take advantage of variances in mirror construction.
The energy needs of society are constantly growing. Techniques to meet this growing energy demand are continually sought after. One area of focus has been in the area of solar power. Solar power technology can take various forms. For instance, various types of photovoltaic devices are known in the art (e.g., see U.S. Patent Document Nos. 2004/02618411, 2006/0180200, 2008/0308147; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,784,361, 6,288,325, 6,613,603, and 6,123,824, the disclosures of which are each hereby incorporated by reference).
One area of solar power technology that is of potential interest is the usage of optics to further concentrate the energy from sunlight into a relatively small area. This can be done in the form of concentrating solar power (CSP) devices or concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) devices.
In CSP applications, the energy is typically focused a point or a line. For example, energy from the sun may be optically reflected energy and focused on a linear tube or a localized body of a given focus size. In either case, the receiver at the focus typically carries a heat transfer fluid, which is heated by the focused solar energy as it is pumped through the receiver. In such cases, even though the energy is designed to focus at a line or a point, in practice, the focused energy has some distribution. This may be related to variations or small errors in the original manufacturing of the optical reflector and its supporting components. In CSP system, this lack of “perfect” focus is of little importance because a receiver can be designed to be large enough to capture the vast majority of the distributed energy. The desired size of the receiver is usually limited as a result of heat loss considerations. However, in practical applications, a match between the energy distribution and the receiver size can usually be obtained. Specifically, the nature of the fluid system is typically such that the fluid itself will serve to homogenize the temperature distribution over the receiver. Thus, even though the reflected energy is not focused on one point or line, it is still collected and there is little to no waste.
Unlike CSP systems, CPV systems typically use a distributed energy model (e.g., not focused at one point).
Conventionally, creation of a distributed focus for CPV applications is done by modifying the designed shape of the reflector surface to a new curvature such that a parabola is no longer defined. Instead, a new shape, or series of shape segments, is constructed that comprise the reflector surface. One technique for accomplishing this is by creating segments and combining the segments together in a design. Another method may be to define more complicated shapes mathematically with higher order polynomial equations. Thus, conventionally, a shape may be defined which, if manufactured accurately, will yield the desired energy distribution at the designed focus distance.
While this method may work in theory, construction of mirrors and optical surfaces can be very complex and often results in large or small imperfections. For example, when the Hubble Space Telescope initially launched, the primary mirror contained a flaw in which the mirror was off by about 10 nanometers. In order to keep CPV an efficient solution for power generation, creation of a mirror that very closely matches the design may be cost prohibitive or otherwise technically infeasible to produce. Furthermore, imperfect reflections may result from the stack up of tolerances of the associated support components. Accordingly, a reflector may never achieve a perfectly ideal shape and/or focus despite best efforts to the contrary.
As discussed above, a parabola designed with a point or line focus, due to manufacturing variations, yields a distributed energy field at the target around the point or line of focus. For CPV reflectors, the same phenomenon may still exist, however it may now be a series of overlapping distributions that depend in part on the method that was chosen to design the reflector shape, e.g., when intentionally designed in accordance with a higher order polynomial shape or in a system with multiple mirrors, or simply as an unintended result of minor manufacturing imperfections. In the central areas of the receiver PV array, the fact that this is a group of distributions, rather than a result of the specific design, may be of little consequence as the overlaps tend to wash together. However, near the edge of the receiver array, these distributions may result in significant spillage of focused energy beyond the useable edges of the PV array.
While these “unusable” edges may be corrected through better manufacturing. As noted above, the complexity associated with manufacturing reflectors in such a precise and cost effective manner is currently not always feasible on a large commercial scale. Accordingly, current designs, by their very nature, with nominal focus points at or near the edges of the receiver, will result in a spillage of energy. This, in turn, creates efficiency losses and higher costs.
The statistical deviations for the focus points due to manufacturing variations will typically be in all possible directions from the focus point, with an average typically at or near the nominal value for a good manufacturing process. Accordingly, for a focus that is nominally at an edge of the receiver array, approximately half of the energy designated to hit that focus will be within the surface of the receiver. Conversely, the other half will spill beyond the edge of the receiver. The conventional approach to addressing this flaw is to “cheat” in a particular direction the portions of the reflector that focus near edges (e.g., inward).
Accordingly, it will be appreciated that new and improved techniques for CPV applications are continually sought after. It will also be appreciated that there exists a need in the art for techniques that increase the illumination efficiency of CPV application and/or reducing the prevalence of hot spots and/or dark spots.
In certain example embodiments, a theoretical focal location is calculated for a designed reflector. An offset between the theoretical focal location and energy convergence is determined. The position of a PV array is set or adjusted based on the determined offset value.
In certain example embodiments, a method of making or assembling a CPV system is provided. A reflector is disposed that has a theoretical focus at a first distance from a vertex of the reflector as part of the CPV system. A PV array is positioned at a second distance that is an offset distance from the first distance, the first distance based on a calculated actual energy distribution criteria. The reflector is configured to reflect solar energy from the reflector towards the photovoltaic array.
In certain example embodiments, a method of improving the efficiency of a photovoltaic (PV) array used in a CPV system is provided. The PV array is adjusted by an offset distance from an ideal theoretical distributed focus or point focus of a reflector that is configured to reflect solar energy onto to the PV array.
In certain example embodiments a method of determining the arrangement of a solar cell in a concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system is provided. A plurality of ray traces is performed against a reflector that is configured to be an element of the CPV system. A distribution is calculated based on the plurality of ray traces intercepting a plane that is a predetermined distance from a vertex of the produced reflector. A range is determined where at least a predetermined amount of the distribution of the plurality of ray traces falls within the range. An improved focus distance is calculated from the vertex of the produced reflector based on the distribution
In certain example embodiments the reflector is an already formed reflector that includes at least one deviation from the designed version of the reflector.
In certain example embodiments, the ray traces are performed against a plurality of reflectors and an average distribution is used to determine the range and/or improved focus distance.
In certain example embodiments a concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system is provided. The CPV system includes a reflector that is configured to reflect solar energy. The reflector is also designed to have a theoretical focus distance from the vertex of the reflector. A PV array is located at a distance that is offset from the theoretical focus distance by a calculated amount. In certain example embodiments, the distance is further away from the vertex than the theoretical focus distance. In certain example embodiments, the distance is closer to the vertex than the theoretical focus distance. The distance may be determined by a distribution of ray traces against the reflector.
The features, aspects, advantages, and example embodiments described herein may be combined in any suitable combination or sub-combination to realize yet further embodiments.
These and other features and advantages may be better and more completely understood by reference to the following detailed description of exemplary illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the drawings, of which:
The following description is provided in relation to several example embodiments which may share common characteristics, features, etc. It is to be understood that one or more features of any one embodiment may be combinable with one or more features of other embodiments. In addition, single features or a combination of features may constitute an additional embodiment(s), e.g., in any suitable combination or sub-combination.
Certain example embodiments herein relate to CPV systems and/or method of creating and/or installing the same.
Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views,
However, in practice, the design for energy distribution does always not match the actual energy distribution.
In certain example embodiments, the determination of the actual distribution of solar energy being reflected from a constructed reflector may be determined by ray tracing the reflector. Alternatively, or in addition, other methods may be used to determine the actual energy distribution from a reflector including, for example: observing the actual flux line of energy on a target screen with the reflector in artificial or natural light; deflectometric or photogrammetric analysis using analysis software for analyzing surfaces and/or reflectors, etc. For example, the QDec deflectometry system provided by CSP Services of Germany or VSHOT laser trace analysis provided by NREL in Colorado may be used in assessing the energy distribution of a reflector (or a group of reflectors).
Certain example embodiments advantageously result in a more even distribution of heat across a PV array, thereby reducing the likelihood of the formation of hot spots and/or dark cells that may degrade performance of the overall system.
After designing the reflector, it may be assembled or formed in step 706. For example, certain example embodiments may form reflectors as described in U.S. application Ser. No. 12/923,836, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. After forming the reflector in step 706, the natural energy distribution of the constructed reflector may be determined in step 708. For example, the above described ray tracing method may be used to determine an approximation of energy distribution. In certain instances, the distribution may a substantially normal or Gaussian distribution around the theoretical focus of the formed reflector, although other distributions are possible. In certain example embodiments, it may be assumed that the distribution is substantially normal or Gaussian in nature, whereas other example embodiments may not make this assumption and/or may involve actual measurements.
Based on this determination, an offset position may be derived. In certain example embodiments, the offset position may be offset from the ideal focal point (e.g., as shown in
Furthermore, the determination of an offset position may be based on sampled data from multiple reflectors (e.g., 30 as discussed in connection with
As noted above, the reflectors for CSP applications may be modified for use in CPV applications. In certain example embodiments, such modifications may include scaling the mirrors produced for CSP application for CPV applications (e.g., as shown in with respect to
Accordingly, in certain example embodiments, some of the steps in
The inventors of the instant application discovered that information concerning the same manufacturing process that is used to make panels of similar size but shorter (or longer) focal lengths may allow the data (e.g., the distribution of reflected energy) from a first type of reflector to be scaled to a second type of reflector. This may allow the prediction of the energy distribution at the new focal line without having to perform new energy distribution tests.
As will be appreciated from the brief description provided above, direct information about the accuracy and manufacturing variation of panels of a given family of size and/or focal length may be obtained. Knowing that the same manufacturing process will be used to make further panels of a similar size but of a shorter focal length for another application (e.g., CPV vs. CSP, or vice versa) or another implementation (e.g., CPV vs. CPV, or CSP vs. CSP), it is possible to use that data and scale it to the rough desired focal length for the end-customer and predict for that focal length a new distribution at the focal line (e.g., as done in connection with
It will be appreciated that one or more of the above steps may be carried out by one or more entities. Further, one or more steps may constitute separate embodiments in relation to building and/or assembling PV systems. For example a constructed reflector may be adjusted based on the actual energy distribution (as opposed to the theoretical). The reflector manufacturer may, for example, be the same or different party as the PV array manufacturer. These manufacturing parties may be the same or different from installers/integrators, solar field operators, etc. Thus, the example steps described above may be performed by these parties, as appropriate to a particular business process or model.
Although certain example embodiments have been described in relation to moving a PV array closer to or father away from an ideal position, it will be appreciated that the offset may be a “side to side” or “left or right” adjustment. It also will be appreciated that the new or offset location need not necessarily be parallel or even substantially parallel to or in line with the ideal or theoretical location. For instance, the offset may relate to an angle relative to an ideal or theoretical position, and/or a combination of up-or-back and left-and-right movement. In certain example embodiments, it may be desirable to adjust the curvature of a PV array.
Although certain example embodiments relate to offsetting the positioning of PV arrays, another aspect of certain example embodiments relates to adjusting the size of the PV arrays (e.g., to make them larger or smaller). Similarly, certain example embodiments may relate to detecting where hot spots or dark cells occur and changing the manner or series in which the solar cells are connected.
It will be appreciated that the term “focus” does not always refer to a particular point but instead may sometimes refer to an area, e.g., at which energy is directed, where a PV array is focused, where an energy distribution occurs, etc.
Although certain example embodiments have been described in relation to CPV system, it will be appreciated that the techniques described herein may be used in connection with CSP systems. It also will be appreciated that the example techniques described herein may be used to convert CSP systems to CPV systems, and/or to improve the efficiency of already in place CPV systems.
As used herein, the terms “on,” “supported by,” and the like should not be interpreted to mean that two elements are directly adjacent to one another unless explicitly stated. In other words, a first layer may be said to be “on” or “supported by” a second layer, even if there are one or more layers there between.
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment(s), it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the claims.
