Stoves and furnaces – Solar heat collector – With means to convey fluent medium through collector
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-16
2003-09-16
Basichas, Alfred (Department: 3743)
Stoves and furnaces
Solar heat collector
With means to convey fluent medium through collector
C126S639000, C126S648000, C126S650000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06619282
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the collection of sunlight, specifically to a large area solar concentrating collector.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
In U.S. Pat. No, 6,021,007 (Murtha), I disclose a new kind of solar concentrating collector that is able to produce high temperatures without tracking the sun. The glass optic has a wide field of view that eliminates the need for a sun-tracking mechanism. However, due to the expense of the glass, the collector area must be kept small.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary object of this invention is to replace the expensive glass of the prior art with water. Water allows the present invention to become a nontracking solar concentrator with a large and inexpensive collection area.
Accordingly, the primary object is accomplished in the following manner: A low-profile tank with an open top is filled with clear water to guide light. Optical panels are placed in the water standing upright in parallel rows. Each panel collects sunlight and all of the panels add to the intensity of the light as it is guided through the water to a focus at one end of the tank. In the focus, a receiver absorbs the concentrated light producing a temperature rise in a volume of working fluid. Since the collector is made mostly of water, the tank can be scaled-up to any size and maintain the same concentration ratio. In this way, an economy of scale is achieved for the first time in a monolithic solar concentrating collector.
Another object is to take advantage of the fact that water absorbs about half of the sunlight that it intercepts, becoming heated in the process. Specifically, the body of water that guides the light is being heated by the light and will be used as feedwater in the focus, thus ensuring a good collection efficiency.
Another object is to increase the field of view of this nontracking solar concentrator, thereby extending the useful collection time available throughout the year.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2680437 (1954-06-01), Miller
patent: 3563305 (1971-02-01), Hay
patent: 3886998 (1975-06-01), Rowekamp
patent: 4237965 (1980-12-01), Hay
patent: 4262659 (1981-04-01), Brzezinski
patent: 4790293 (1988-12-01), Caines
patent: 6021007 (2000-02-01), Murtha
patent: 0 076 875 (1983-04-01), None
patent: 358039355 (1983-04-01), None
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