Solar dish concentrator with a molten salt receiver incorporating thermal energy storage
AssigneePratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc.
InventorsTerrence Murphy, William Otting, Patrick Frye
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A solar power system capable of storing heat energy and converting sun light to electrical power. The solar power system includes a solar collection system which gathers and transmits concentrated solar energy to an absorber/cavity. The thermal energy is extracted from the absorber/cavity via a fluid and transported to a heat conversion system. The heat conversion system uses the thermal energy to create electricity.
Claims20
A method for obtaining and storing heat energy from solar energy, comprising:
- using a light concentrator to receive and reflect sun light;
- using a heat absorber to receive reflected sun light from said light concentrator and to heat a cold fluid circulating through said heat absorber;
- using a cold fluid storage reservoir to supply said cold fluid to said heat absorber during times of solar activity, so that said cold fluid can be heated within said heat absorber to become a hot fluid;
- using a hot fluid storage reservoir to store said hot fluid after same has been heated by said heat absorber;
- and
- using a conversion engine to generate electricity from said hot fluid supplied from said hot fluid reservoir, during times of low solar activity.
A method for obtaining and storing heat energy from solar energy, comprising:
- using a heat absorber to receive reflected and focused sun light to heat a cold fluid circulating through said heat absorber;
- using a cold fluid storage reservoir to supply said cold fluid to said heat absorber during times of solar activity, so that said cold fluid can be heated within said heat absorber to become a hot fluid;
- using a hot fluid storage reservoir to store said hot fluid after same has been heated by said heat absorber;
- using a conversion engine to generate electricity from said hot fluid supplied from said hot fluid storage reservoir, during times of low solar activity;
- and
- using a controller to control the application of said cold fluid to said heat absorber in accordance with changing solar conditions.
A method for obtaining and storing heat energy from solar energy, comprising:
- reflecting and focusing solar energy into a heat absorber;
- using said heat absorber to receive said reflected and focused sun light to heat a cold fluid circulating through said heat absorber;
- using a cold fluid storage reservoir to supply said cold fluid to said heat absorber during times of solar activity, so that said cold fluid can be heated within said heat absorber to become a hot fluid;
- using a hot fluid storage reservoir to store said hot fluid after same has been heated by said heat absorber;
- and
- using a controller to control the application of said cold fluid to said heat absorber in accordance with changing solar conditions, and to control the flow of said hot fluid from said hot fluid reservoir to an energy conversion device, in accordance with changing solar conditions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.