Patterned glass cylindrical lens arrays for concentrated photovoltaic systems, and/or methods of making the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9423533-B2
Application number	US-66262410-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 26, 2010
Priority date	Apr 26, 2010
Publication date	Aug 23, 2016
Grant date	Aug 23, 2016

Abstract

Certain example embodiments of this invention relate to patterned glass that can be used as a cylindrical lens array in a concentrated photovoltaic application, and/or methods of making the same. In certain example embodiments, the lens arrays may be used in combination with strip solar cells and/or single-axis tracking systems. That is, in certain example embodiments, lenses in the lens array may be arranged so as to concentrate incident light onto respective strip solar cells, and the entire assembly may be connected to a single-axis tracking system that is programmed to follow the East-West movement of the sun. A low-iron glass may be used in connection with certain example embodiments. Such techniques may advantageously help to reduce cost per watt related, in part, to the potentially reduced amount of semiconductor material to be used for such example embodiments.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A photovoltaic system, comprising:
a plurality of elongated solar cells, each said solar cell comprising c-Si;
tubing through which liquid flows, the tubing located proximate the solar cells;
a plurality of lenses oriented along a common axis, each said lens being configured to concentrate incident light in substantially one dimension so that the lenses concentrate light toward the elongate solar cells and toward the tubing in order to heat the liquid in the tubing, each said lens having a concentration ratio of 3×-30×, wherein said elongate solar cells are spaced apart from each other so that adjacent solar cells are not in direct contact with each other;
wherein said lenses are formed from patterned soda-lime-silica glass having a low iron content, the soda-lime silica glass forming the lenses containing from 0.01 to 0.08% total iron and a glass redox of no greater than 0.08;
wherein said lenses comprise first and second sub-lens arrays, each sub-lens array comprising plano-convex lenses, the first and second sub-lens arrays being laminated to one another via laminating material comprising PVB such that the planar sides of the first and second sub-lens arrays are adjacent to one another;
wherein the lenses are spaced apart from corresponding solar cells toward which they concentrate incident light, and wherein each of said lenses has a convex top surface and a convex bottom surface when viewed in cross section so that an apex of the convex bottom surface of each lens is centered over and spaced apart from the corresponding solar cell, toward which it concentrates incident light; and
wherein an elongated axis of each said solar cell is substantially aligned with and substantially parallel to an elongated axis of a corresponding branch of said tubing, so that said branches of said tubing extend in substantially the same direction as the overlying solar cells.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein
each said c-Si solar cell is at least about 20% efficient.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein
each said lens has a focal length of about 20-200 mm.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein
each said lens has a width of about 10-100 mm, a minimum thickness of about 2-4 mm, and a maximum thickness of about 4-8 mm.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein
each said lens has a focal length of about 20-200 mm, and wherein
each said lens has a width of about 10-100 mm, a minimum thickness of about 2-4 mm, and a maximum thickness of about 4-8 mm.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein
each said lens is a plano-convex lens.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising
a single-axis tracking system, the single-axis tracking system being configured to move the lenses and/or the plurality of elongate solar cells so as to substantially match the East-West movement of the sun.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the solar cells are formed using chip on glass manufacturing techniques and are connected to one another using interconnecting wires and/or copper tape.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising
an antireflective coating wet-applied to the lenses.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the antireflective coating comprises silicon oxide having an index of refraction of about 1.3.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the liquid comprises water.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the liquid is a cooling liquid for cooling the solar cells when entering the tubing, and is heated when exiting the tubing.

13. A photovoltaic system, comprising:
a plurality of elongated photovoltaic cells;
tubing through which liquid flows, the tubing located proximate the photovoltaic cells;
a plurality of lenses oriented along a common axis, each said lens being configured to concentrate incident light in substantially one dimension so that the lenses concentrate light toward the elongate photovoltaic cells and toward the tubing in order to heat the liquid in the tubing, wherein said elongate photovoltaic cells are spaced apart from each other so that adjacent photovoltaic cells are not in direct contact with each other;
wherein said lenses are formed from patterned soda-lime-silica glass having a low iron content, the soda-lime silica glass forming the lenses containing from 0.01 to 0.08% total iron and a glass redox of no greater than 0.08;
wherein said lenses comprise first and second sub-lens arrays, each sub-lens array comprising plano-convex lenses, the first and second sub-lens arrays being laminated to one another via laminating material comprising PVB such that the planar sides of the first and second sub-lens arrays are adjacent to one another;
wherein the lenses are spaced apart from corresponding photovoltaic cells toward which they concentrate incident light, and wherein each of said lenses has a convex top surface and a convex bottom surface so that an apex of the convex bottom surface of each lens is centered over and spaced apart from the corresponding photovoltaic cell, toward which it concentrates incident light; and
wherein an elongated axis of each said solar cell is substantially aligned with and substantially parallel to an elongated axis of a corresponding branch of said tubing, so that said branches of said tubing extend in substantially the same direction as the overlying solar cells.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein
each said lens has a focal length of about 20-200 mm.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein
each said lens has a width of about 10-100 mm, a minimum thickness of about 2-4 mm, and a maximum thickness of about 4-8 mm.

16. The system of claim 13 , further comprising
a single-axis tracking system, the single-axis tracking system being configured to move the lenses and/or the plurality of elongate photovoltaic cells so as to substantially match the East-West movement of the sun.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein
the photovoltaic cells are formed using chip on glass manufacturing techniques and are connected to one another using interconnecting wires and/or copper tape.

18. The system of claim 13 , further comprising
an antireflective coating wet-applied to the lenses.

Assignees

• Krasnov Alexey
• Den Boer Willem
• Guardian Industries

Inventors

• Krasnov Alexey
• Den Boer Willem

Classifications

• H10F77/488

  Reflecting light-concentrating means, e.g. parabolic mirrors or concentrators using total internal reflection · CPC title

• H10F77/484

  Refractive light-concentrating means, e.g. lenses · CPC title

• H10F77/68

  using gaseous or liquid coolants, e.g. air flow ventilation or water circulation · CPC title

• H01L31/0521

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G02B3/0062 Primary

  Stacked lens arrays, i.e. refractive surfaces arranged in at least two planes, without structurally separate optical elements in-between · CPC title