1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a solar energy collector and a method of manufacturing the same, and particularly, to a rollable, foldable, expandable and flexible web-shaped solar energy collector and a method of manufacturing the same, the solar energy collector having a solar chip, conductive wires connected to the solar chip, and a securing line that secures the solar chip and the conductive wires.
2. Description of Related Art
With the rapid development of technology and the increasing demand for energy, a variety of energy generating methods have been provided, in addition to traditional energy generating methods.
Some of the methods use natural sources, such as heat, water or wind, to generate energy. However, these methods are restricted to be performed at certain places, and ordinary people cannot use or own them. In contrast, solar energy generating equipment is convenient and simple, and can be installed on the roof of a building. The solar panel collects sunlight and transforms it into electric energy with a solar chip thereof, so as to generate energy. In addition, some devices such as a solar energy hot water heater may transform light energy to electric energy.
Since the solar energy generating equipment is a very common technology, in order not to generate too less the energy, a great number of solar chips are arranged in an array and installed on a case-shaped board that has a large area, so as to collect the sunlight with the large enough board and generate abundant electric energy. However, such the traditional design increases the area and capacity of the solar panel, making the solar panel be installed on limited places such as a platform, and unable to be placed at anyplace at the user's will. Moreover, the solar panel is bulky, and is not easily to be installed, detached or removed, thereby having a limited number of applications.
Therefore, how to design solar energy generating equipment that is easily and flexibly installed and used has becoming one of the urgent issues in the art.
In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, a solar energy collector is provided, thereby facilitating convenient and flexible installation and use of solar energy equipment.
A solar energy collector and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The solar energy collector includes: an energy generating unit having at least one solar chip that has two contact terminals independently connected to each of conductive wires, wherein the at least one solar chip and the conductive wires are secured with a securing line; the conductive wires and the securing line further constitutes a web structure.
In another aspect, the energy generating unit is formed by a plurality of solar chips that are connected in series via the conductive wires. Further, a plurality of energy generating units is contained in the solar energy collector, and are connected in parallel via the assembly wire, so as to form the web structure.
Another embodiment of a solar energy collector of the present invention includes: a web member; and a solar chip that has two contact terminals independently connected to each of conductive wires, the solar chip and/or the conductive wires being secured to the web member. A connection portion where the conductive wires are independently connected to the two contact terminals is encompassed with a protection member.
In another aspect, the web member is composed of a plurality of securing lines, wherein the securing lines encompass the conductive wires, and the contact terminals of the solar chip are respectively connected to the conductive wires in the securing lines.
The solar energy collector further includes an assembly wire for connecting with the conductive wires, to store energy transformed by the solar chip into an energy storage equipment.
The method of manufacturing a solar energy collector includes the following steps of: (1) connecting two contact terminals of at least one solar chip to conductive wires, respectively, to form an energy generating unit; (2) connecting a plurality of the energy generating units via an assembly wire; and (3) providing a securing line to secure the plurality of energy generating units, such that each solar chip is installed toward the same direction.
The above step (3) is formed by any one of the following aspects: entangling and securing the solar chip with the securing line; adhering the solar chip to the securing line with adhesive; inlaying and securing the conductive wires or the securing line into a groove provided on a back side of the solar chip; or penetrating the securing line with an acicular protrusion provided on a back side of the solar chip, so as to secure the solar chip to the securing line.
Another embodiment of a method of manufacturing a solar energy collector of the present invention includes the following steps of: (1) providing a web member; (2) securing at least one solar chip to the web member; and (3) connecting two contact terminals of the solar chip to conductive wires, respectively, and securing the conductive wires to the web member.
The above step (3) is formed by any one of the following aspects: securing the solar chip to the web member by a binding method; adhering the solar chip to the web member with adhesive; inlaying and securing the securing line into a groove provided on a back side of the solar chip; or penetrating the web member with an acicular protrusion provided on a back side of the solar chip, so as to secure the solar chip to the web member.
In another aspect, the web member is composed of securing lines, and the conductive wires are installed within the securing lines, such that the contact terminals of the solar chip are connected to the conductive wires, so as to secure the solar chip to the web member.
Compared with the prior art, a solar energy collector and a method of manufacturing the same of the present invention form an energy collecting device having a web structure through the combination a solar chip and conductive wires with a securing line. Since constituted by the conductive wires and the securing line, the web structure is elastic and flexible, and has more advantages, as compared with a traditional solar panel. The solar energy collector of the present invention can be installed according to environment needs, and is easily to be detached or removed.
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The following illustrative embodiments are provided to illustrate the disclosure of the present invention, these and other advantages and effects can be apparently understood by those in the art after reading the disclosure of this specification. The present invention can also be performed or applied by other different embodiments. The details of the specification may be on the basis of different points and applications, and numerous modifications and variations can be devised without detaching from the spirit of the present invention.
In addition to using the protection member 13, as shown in
The energy generating unit 3 is not limited to comprise the number of solar chip 1 shown in
The energy generating unit, which is fastened by the securing line, is not limited to be fastened by the above method.
There is another embodiment for the solar energy collector of the present invention. The solar energy collector of the another embodiment comprises a web member and at least one solar chip having two contact terminals connected to conductive wires, respectively, wherein the solar chip and/or the conductive wires are fastened to the web member. The web member is composed of a plurality of securing lines and has a rollable, foldable and flexible weaved or un-weaved structure that is in the shape of a bar, strip or slice. The connection portion of the conductive wire and the contact terminals of the solar chip is encompassed with a protection member. The protection member prevents rain and external members from contacting or pulling the connection portion, and protects the connection portion from poor connection or being broken.
In a solar energy collector of still another embodiment that has a web member according to the present invention, a groove is formed on the back side of the solar chip, allowing the conductive wire or the securing line to be secured thereto. Accordingly, the solar chip can be steadily fastened to the web member. An acicular protrusion may be further provided on the back side of the solar chip, for penetrating and fastening to the securing line, so as to steadily fasten the solar chip to the web member.
Note that the solar energy collector is different from a traditional solar panel. The traditional solar panel packages a plurality of solar chips arranged in an array, to form a solar panel of a large area, while the solar chip of the solar energy collector of the present invention is formed as a chip of tiny capacity by a single packaging method. In addition to being in a single-chip package, the solar chip can also be packaged with the conductive wire. In other words, the solar energy collector of the present invention is mainly composed of a solar chip, conductive wire and securing line, and is manufactured by many ways, such as combining the conductive wire with the solar chip to form the energy generating unit and fastening them with the securing line, or constituting a web member with the securing line and installing the solar chip thereon and fastening the solar chip thereto. Any aspect can be applied to the present invention, as long as it can fasten the solar chip to the web structure, for providing a soft solar energy generating means. In the following paragraphs, a method of manufacturing a solar energy collector, in which the solar chip is easily to be fastened to the web structure, will be described.
The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a solar energy collector, comprising the following steps of: (1) connecting two contact terminals of at least one solar chip with conductive wires, respectively, to form an energy generating unit; (2) connecting a plurality of the energy generating units via an assembly wire; and (3) providing a securing line to secure the plurality of energy generating units, such that each of the solar chip is toward the same direction. The energy generating unit connects the solar chip with the conductive wire in series and performs a single packaging process. A plurality of sets of energy generating units are connected in parallel via the assembly wire, to form a web structure. Moreover, the connection portion where the two contact terminals of the solar chip are connected to the conductive wire is encompassed with a protection member. The securing line can be made of any suitable material such as nylon.
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A method of manufacturing a solar energy collector of another embodiment according to the present invention comprises the following steps: (1) providing a web member that is composed of a securing line and is secured with a conductive wire; (2) securing at least one solar chip to the web member; and (3) connecting two contact terminals of the solar chip with the conductive wires, respectively. The solar chip is in a single-chip package. In other words, the solar chip is packaged directly as being manufactured, and then connected to the conductive wire when placed on the web structure. The connection portion where the two contact terminals of the solar chip are connected to the conductive wires is encompassed with a protection member. The web member is composed of a securing line. The securing line is made of any suitable material such as nylon.
The above manufacturing methods can be secured by a variety of types of securing methods, which will be illustrated with
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Alternatively, as shown in
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In another embodiment, as shown in
In addition to providing solar energy generating effect, the solar energy collector of the present invention can also have a variety of applications because it has the web structure. For instance, the present invention may be applied to agricultural art, to replace a traditional gauze that is used for protecting crops. The traditional gauze is mainly used to protect crops from insects, rain and sunshine, and keep good ventilation. In contrast, the solar energy collector of the present invention has a web structure that is formed with a securing line or is formed by combining conductive wires and a securing line. The web structure may have any size, depending on practical needs. In addition to owning the basic functions of the traditional gauze, the solar chip can also transform solar energy to electric energy, and store the electric energy or use the electric energy as the basic electricity for agricultural peripherals. For example, the electric energy can be transformed for night lighting or a water pumping motor. Through an appropriate weave to generate gauze effect, the web structure is composed of a securing line made of a variety of materials such as nylon, and thus has elasticity and flexibility. The elasticity protects the web structure from being pulled externally and damaged. The flexibility means that the web structure does not belong to a traditional rigid board structure, and can have different applications based on practical needs. Therefore, the problem of the prior art is solved that the traditional rigid solar panel is hard to be installed and inconvenient to use. Since the solar energy collective is flexible, it can be installed at an uneven place and is easily to be detached or removed, depending on practical needs.
In sum, the present invention provides a solar energy collector and a method of manufacturing the same. An energy collecting device having a web structure is constituted by a tiny solar chip, conductive wires and a securing line. In addition to a solar energy generating effect, the web structure has elasticity and flexibility, since the web structure is formed by the conductive wires and the securing line. Accordingly, the solar energy collector of the present invention can replace a traditional solar panel and be placed in any corner of a building or at any uneven place, and is easily to be detached and removed. Moreover, the present invention constitutes the energy collecting device having the web structure with the conductive wires, solar chip and securing line, so the size of the web structure and the number of the solar chips can be adjusted according to practical needs. In comparison with the traditional solar panel that has a constant size, the solar energy collector of the present invention is more efficient and has more versatile applications.
The foregoing descriptions of the detailed embodiments are only illustrated to disclose the features and functions of the present invention and not restrictive of the scope of the present invention. It should be understood to those in the art that all modifications and variations according to the spirit and principle in the disclosure of the present invention should fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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98137537 | Nov 2009 | TW | national |