Patent Application
20110023936
The present invention relates to a concentrating unit for a photovoltaic apparatus and, more particularly, to a concentrating unit including a concentrator and two supporting elements for firmly attaching the concentrator on a solar cell module.
Because of the rapid growth of demand in solar energy and high power transfer efficiency, the techniques to collect more power onto solar cell become more prominent. Hence some concentrators have been brought out to capture more sunlight onto solar cells so that the electricity converted from the sunlight by the solar cells will be higher.
Referring to
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a reliable concentrating unit.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the concentrating unit includes a concentrator and two supporting elements. The concentrator includes an incident end from which the sunlight goes into the concentrator, an exit end from which the sunlight leaves the concentrator and a reflective surface between the incident end and the exit end for the reflecting to help concentrate the sunlight. Each of the supporting elements includes an upright section extended from the concentrator and a horizontal section extended from the upright section for attachment to a solar cell module.
Other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description referring to the attached drawings.
The present invention will be described via the detailed illustration of two embodiments referring to the drawings.
Referring to
The concentrator 1 includes an incident end 11, an exit end 12 and a reflective surface 13 between the incident end 11 and the exit end 12. The concentrator 1 is in the form of a conical frustum. In use, the incident end 11 is right toward to the sun 2 so that the sunlight 21 goes into the concentrator 1 from the incident end 11 and leaves the concentrator 1 from the exit end 12.
The reflective surface 13 reflects the indirect portion of sunlight 21 as the sunlight 21 travels through the concentrator 1. Therefore, the intensity of the sunlight 21 is higher at the exit end 12 than at the incident end 11.
The supporting elements 14a and 14b are preferably formed together with the concentrator 1. The supporting elements 14a and 14b may however be secured to the concentrator 1 according to another embodiment. The supporting elements 14a and 14b are located opposite to each other. The supporting elements 14a and 14b are L-shaped. That is, each of the supporting elements 14a and 14b includes an upright section extended from the concentrator 1 and a horizontal section transversely extended from the upright section. A screw holes 141a and 141b are defined in the horizontal section of the supporting element 14a and 14b, respectively.
Threaded bolts 31a and 31b are driven into the screw holes 141a and 141b through two apertures defined in the solar cell module 3, respectively. Thus, the concentrator 1 is firmly supported on the solar cell module 3. The exit end 12 is located right above a solar cell 32 of the solar cell module 3 so that the concentrated sunlight 21 is directed to the solar cell 32.
Referring to
The position of the concentrator 1 or 16 relative to the solar cell module 3 is retained during vibration or rattling. Thus, the distance between the exit end 12 and the solar cell 32 is retained, and the exit end 12 is always aligned with the solar cell 32. Therefore, the concentrated sunlight 21 won't be leaked, thus ensuring appropriate throughput of electricity converted from the concentrated sunlight 21.
The present invention has been described via the detailed illustration of the embodiments. Those skilled in the art can derive variations from the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments shall not limit the scope of the present invention defined in the claims.
