Time Is Energy

Inverted pyramid solar panel design--30% savings

I'm really excited about this patent pending design for making a solar panel. I think of these as "baby pictures"...still in the cute and fuzzy stage. So bear with me as I try to explain what you are seeing. (pictured below)

The basic idea is to place trapezoid shaped mirrors on each side of a solar cell as shown. The dark green part that lies flat along the bottom is the solar cell, and all four of the sloping side walls are reflectors. There is a transparent glass cover shown...well okay that is a bit tough...maybe you can see the "clips" along the top edge of each reflector that the cover rests on.

When the sun is directly over the panel, you get between 3.5-4 times (4x if you use 100% reflective mirrors) the amount sunlight, and hence the 3.5-4x the power from each cell. The result is a panel that uses 1/4 the number of solar cells of a typical panel, significantly reducing the panel cost. I estimate that this design will cost 30% less than a standard panel after adding in the cost of the mirrors. These panels should be mounted on solar trackers for best results.

The first image shows two "compartments" and the second shows how multiple compartments added together to form a panel. I think of this as an inverted pyramid design, but the full panel looks a little like an egg-crate.

posted by Daniel @ 1:07 PM