Light-concentrating lens assembly for a solar energy recovery system
A light-concentrating lens assembly for a solar energy system, the assembly comprising a plurality of concentrically arranged paraboloid mirror reflectors, a conical light guide extending below the plurality of paraboloid mirror reflectors, an inner central cone disposed along a central axis of the concentrically arranged paraboloid mirror reflectors, and a compound paraboloid concentrator disposed beneath the inner central cone.
1. A light-concentrating lens assembly for a solar energy system, the assembly comprising:
a plurality of concentrically arranged paraboloid mirror reflectors;
a conical light guide extending below the plurality of paraboloid mirror reflectors;
a reflective inner central cone disposed along a central axis of the concentrically arranged paraboloid mirror reflectors; and
a compound paraboloid concentrator disposed beneath the inner central cone.
2. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the conical light guide extends from a bottom of a most radially outward reflector to an upper periphery of the compound paraboloid concentrator.
3. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein a ratio of a base diameter of the inner cone to a diameter of the top glass plate is 1 to 7.6.
4. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein a ratio of a base diameter of the inner cone to a diameter of the top glass plate ranges between 1:7 and 1:8.
5. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 1 comprising a top glass plate disposed on top of the plurality of concentrically arranged paraboloid mirror reflectors.
6. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein a thickness of the top glass plate is substantially equal to a thickness of each reflector.
7. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein a thickness of the top glass plate is equal to 90-110% of a thickness of each reflector.
8. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein a gap between successive paraboloid mirror reflectors is greater than a thickness of each of the paraboloid mirrors reflectors.
9. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein a ratio of a gap between successive paraboloid mirror reflectors to a thickness of each of the paraboloid mirror reflectors is between 1 and 2.
10. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inner cone is longer than the compound paraboloid concentrator.
11. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 10 wherein the inner cone has a base diameter equal to that of the compound paraboloid concentrator.
12. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the compound paraboloid concentrator has a length equal to its base diameter.
13. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inner cone has a length to base diameter ratio of 8 to 5.
14. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each reflector has a lens profile characterized by:
a lower curved lens portion having an upwardly facing convex surface and a downwardly facing concave surface; and
an upper curved upper lens portion having a radially outward convex surface and a radially inward concave surface.
15. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 14 wherein the upper curved lens portion terminates in an upper circular edge.
16. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 15 wherein a spacing between each successive upper circular edge is equal to three times a thickness of each reflector.
17. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 15 wherein a spacing between each successive upper circular edge ranges from two to four times a thickness of each reflector.
18. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inner central cone has a highly reflective inner coating.
19. A light-concentrating lens assembly for a solar energy system, the assembly comprising:
two concentrically arranged spherical and conical mirrors;
a central reflective cone disposed along a central axis of the concentrically arranged spherical and conical mirrors to redirect flux from the mirrors; and
a compound paraboloid concentrator (CPC) disposed beneath the central reflective cone.
20. The lens assembly as claimed in claim 19 further comprising a large central lens at an inlet of the cone.
21. The lens assembly as claimed in claim 20 further comprising a small negative lens at an outlet of the cone.
22. The lens assembly as claimed in claim 19 wherein a depth of the lens assembly is less than a width of the lens assembly.
23. The lens assembly as claimed in claim 19 wherein the central reflective cone has a highly reflective inner coating.
24. The light-concentrating lens assembly as claimed in claim 21 wherein the central reflective cone has a highly reflective outer coating.