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AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsRichard A. Haight, Yves C. Martin, Theodore G. van Kessel
Estimating the term…
A light pipe that can be employed for a Concentrator Photo-Voltaic (CPV) system is provided. The light pipe homogenizes light by diffusion and/or refraction, and can be embodied in a structure that has a low aspect ratio. The diffusion and/or refraction can be effected by concave or convex surfaces of a transparent medium that forms a body of the light pipe, by light diffracting particles, and/or by a diffracting surface. Optionally, multiple transparent media can be employed with a refracting and/or diffracting interface therebetween. The reduced aspect ratio of the light pipe can improve reliability of mechanical alignment in the CPV system as well as reducing the cost of manufacturing and/or aligning the light pipe within the CPV system.
A structure comprising at least a light pipe, said light pipe comprising an optically transparent material and having an entrance surface at a top and an exit surface at a bottom that are respectively configured to provide for entry and exit of light rays at least a pair of sidewalls having a monotonically decreasing width therebetween with distance from said entrance surface to said exit surface and configured to provide internal reflection of said light rays within said light pipe, wherein a non-planar surface is provided upon said light pipe, and said non-planar surface is geometrically shaped to diffract or refract light impinging thereupon, wherein intensity of light is homogenized at a bottom surface of said light pipe by diffraction or refraction of light at said non-planar surface.
A method of generating electrical power from a source of radiation, said method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.