Solar energy concentrator with movable mirrors for use in flat solar thermal collectors or in static photovoltaic modules

Abstract

The invention relates to a cylindrical concentrator with a frustoconical cross section, which uses flat movable mirrors (1) rotating on a shaft parallel to the axis of the cylinder and which has low concentration levels (typically <= 2). The concentrator is specially designed to couple to flat solar collectors and to photovoltaic modules (2), including those available on the market, so as to allowthe productivity of same to be increased while remaining static, and the cost of energy generation to be reduced. The invention is essentially characterised in that the tracking criterion of the mirror is that of redirecting the limiting ray (r1, r2,...r'1, r'2,..) that falls on the part of the mirror furthest from the absorber or photovoltaic module (FV) towards the vicinity of the opposite limit of the surface of the absorber or module. The fact that the mirrors are movable also allows the structures and systems for protecting against wind, snow or high temperatures to be simplified.

Description

technical field [0001] Heat is generated using solar thermal energy and electricity is generated using photovoltaic solar energy. Background technique [0002] A solar concentrator is a device that uses mirrors or lenses to redirect incident radiation on a surface (called the aperture area) to an exit area smaller than the aperture, where a solar thermal absorber or photovoltaic module has an energy density of the exit area Placed in such a way that the energy density is greater than the aperture. The relationship between aperture area and exit area is called geometric concentration or simply concentration and is denoted by the letter C. [0003] The use of mirrors to concentrate solar radiation is a very old technology (early 20th century) and is widely used in solar systems to generate electricity through thermodynamic cycles with temperatures typically above 300°C. The most widely used solar concentrator devices for these purposes are parabolic trough solar collectors, ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

The remaining disadvantage is cost, since the concentrators used so far have not provided significant advantages in reducing electricity costs for photovoltaic applications

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