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US 10,605,490 B2Granted
Energy collector
AssigneeTenkiv, Inc.
InventorsWilliam Juhasz, Zachary Juhasz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An energy collector is disclosed. The energy collector contains an absorber and a working fluid. The working fluid is held in a state of two-phase equilibrium to minimize sensible heating and thus heat losses to the environment. The energy collector may be held under a vacuum to further prevent heat losses to the ambient environment. One or more energy collectors may be connected to other energy collectors, end uses, or thermal energy storage.
Claims20
An energy collector comprising:
- a base for supporting the energy collector on a support surface;
- a plurality of support features positioned within and operably coupled to the base, each support feature defining an alignment recess;
- an absorber that absorbs solar radiation, comprising:
- a first heat retaining member comprising a plurality of first heat retaining member apertures defined therethrough;
- a second heat retaining member comprising a plurality of second heat retaining member apertures defined therethrough, wherein the second heat retaining member is operably coupled to the first heat retaining member so as to define a fluid cavity therebetween configured to receive a working fluid therein and the first heat retaining member is coupled to and aligned with the second heat retaining member such that the first heat retaining member apertures and the second heat retaining member apertures are aligned with one another;
- a plurality of alignment protrusions coupled to the absorber, each of the alignment protrusions having a shape corresponding to at least one alignment recess, wherein the plurality of alignment protrusions are received within the plurality of alignment recesses to align the absorber and the base;
- a plurality of force distribution pillars coupled to the base and received through the first heat retaining member apertures and the second heat retaining member apertures of the absorber;
- a radiation penetrable cover coupled to the base and positioned on an end of each of the plurality of force distribution pillars, such that the force distribution pillars support the radiation penetrable cover at a set distance from the absorber;
- and
- a base manifold defined between the second heat retaining member and a top surface of the base, wherein the base manifold and the absorber are under vacuum such that as the absorber absorbs radiation from a radiation source, the working fluid received within the fluid cavity experiences a phase change.
7 more elements
An energy collector comprising:
- a base for supporting the energy collector on a support surface;
- a plurality of support features positioned within and operably coupled to the base, each support feature defining an alignment recess;
- an absorber that absorbs solar radiation, comprising:
- a first heat retaining member comprising a plurality of first heat retaining member apertures defined therethrough;
- a second heat retaining member comprising a plurality of second heat retaining member apertures defined therethrough, wherein the second heat retaining member is operably coupled to the first heat retaining member so as to define a fluid cavity therebetween configured to receive a working fluid therein and the first heat retaining member is coupled to and aligned with the second heat retaining member such that the first heat retaining member apertures and the second heat retaining member apertures are aligned with one another;
- a plurality of alignment protrusions coupled to the absorber, each of the alignment protrusions having a shape corresponding to at least one alignment recess, wherein the plurality of alignment protrusions are received within the plurality of alignment recesses to align the absorber and the base;
- a plurality of force distribution pillars coupled to the base and received through the first heat retaining member apertures and the second heat retaining member apertures of the absorber;
- a radiation penetrable cover coupled to the base and positioned on an end of each of the plurality of force distribution pillars, such that the force distribution pillars support the radiation penetrable cover at a set distance from the absorber;
- and
- a base manifold defined between the second heat retaining member and a top surface of the base, wherein the base manifold is under vacuum such that as the absorber absorbs radiation from a radiation source, the working fluid received within the fluid cavity experiences a phase change, wherein
- a pressure inside the energy collector is maintained such that a mean free path of gas molecules within the energy collector is longer than a distance between a top surface of the absorber and a bottom surface of the radiation penetrable cover.
8 more elements
An energy collector system comprising:
- one or more energy collectors fluidly coupled to one another, each energy collector comprising:
- a base for supporting the energy collector on a support surface;
- a plurality of support features positioned within and operably coupled to the base, each support feature defining an alignment recess;
- an absorber that absorbs solar radiation, comprising:
- a first heat retaining member comprising a plurality of first heat retaining member apertures defined therethrough;
- a second heat retaining member comprising a plurality of second heat retaining member apertures defined therethrough, wherein the second heat retaining member is operably coupled to the first heat retaining member so as to define a fluid cavity therebetween configured to receive a working fluid therein and the first heat retaining member is coupled to and aligned with the second heat retaining member such that the first heat retaining member apertures and the second heat retaining member apertures are aligned with one another;
- a plurality of alignment protrusions coupled to the absorber, each of the alignment protrusions having a shape corresponding to at least one alignment recess, wherein the plurality of alignment protrusions are received within the plurality of alignment recesses to align the absorber and the base;
- a plurality of force distribution pillars coupled to the base and received through the first heat retaining member apertures and the second heat retaining member apertures of the absorber;
- a radiation penetrable cover coupled to the base and positioned on an end of the plurality of force distribution pillars, such that the force distribution pillars support the radiation penetrable cover at a set distance from the absorber;
- and
- a base manifold defined between the second heat retaining member and a top surface of the base, wherein the base manifold and the absorber are under vacuum such that as the absorber absorbs radiation from a radiation source, the working fluid experiences a phase change.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.