Solid state solar thermal energy collector
AssigneePlanet A Energy, Inc.
InventorsRichard Lee Johnson, Braden Eric Hines, Guido Hamacher, Russ Neff, Christian T. Gregory, John Terry Bailey
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for receiving, transferring, and storing solar thermal energy. The system includes a concentrating solar energy collector, a transfer conduit, a thermal storage material, and an insulated container. The insulated container contains the thermal storage material, and the transfer conduit is configured to transfer solar energy collected by the solar energy collector to the thermal storage material through a wall of the insulated container.
Claims18
A solar thermal power plant, comprising:
- two or more conduit modules,
- each of two or more of the conduit modules comprising:
- an insulated barrier surrounding an insulated region,
- a concentrating solar energy collector,
- a light transfer conduit for transferring received energy through the insulated barrier from outside the insulated region to inside the insulated region, and
- a thermal energy storage material within the insulated region,
- the insulated region barrier of each of the conduit modules having openings to allow a fluid to enter and exit the insulated region,
- the two or more conduit modules forming a first conduit to help guide the flow of a heat transfer fluid along a portion of a fluid circuit.
A method for collecting and storing energy with two or more conduit modules, the method comprising:
- collecting solar energy with a concentrating solar energy collector of a first conduit module of the two or more conduit modules;
- transferring the solar energy, with a light transfer optic of the first conduit module, through an insulating layer of the first conduit module, into an insulated region inside the insulating layer;
- and
- absorbing and storing the transferred energy in an energy storage medium within the insulated region;
- and
- causing a heat transfer fluid to flow through a conduit formed by the two or more conduit modules.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.