Coolant loop for trough reflector systems with solar cells

A coolant loop for trough reflector systems that have solar cell arrays, wherein said coolant loop is comprised of:

• a) a coolant discharge reservoir containing coolant with a free surface, and
• b) a coolant supply reservoir containing coolant with a free surface, wherein the free surface of the coolant in said coolant supply reservoir is continuously maintained at a higher elevation than the free surface of the coolant in said coolant discharge reservoir, and wherein the elevation difference, H, between the free surface of the coolant in said coolant supply reservoir and the free surface of the coolant in said coolant discharge reservoir can be controlled and set to different desired values by varying the relative amounts of coolant in said coolant supply reservoir and said coolant discharge reservoir, and
• c) a multiplicity of cooling channels, wherein each of said cooling channels is comprised of a conduit having a coolant inlet port at one of its ends and a coolant discharge port at its other end, and wherein each of said cooling channels supports solar cell arrays that are attached to a wall of said cooling channel, and wherein the portion of each of said cooling channels to which said solar cell arrays are attached is maintained at a higher elevation than the free surface of the coolant in said coolant supply reservoir, and wherein each of said cooling channels is continuously oriented and positioned so that said attached solar cell arrays intercept concentrated sunlight produced by an optically-associated trough reflector, and wherein each of said cooling channels is physically contoured and spatially positioned so that said coolant inlet port is continuously submerged beneath the free surface of the coolant in said coolant supply reservoir, and wherein each of said cooling channels is physically contoured and spatially positioned so that said coolant discharge port is continuously submerged beneath the free surface of the coolant in said coolant discharge reservoir, and wherein the internal volume of each of said cooling channels is devoid of gaseous species and filled throughout with liquid coolant, thereby establishing said cooling channel as a coolant flow passage with respect to siphoning pressure.