# US 2020/0174237 A1 · Radiation collector and method of manufacture thereof > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2020/0174237 A1 - Document ID: US20200174237A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/620,704 - Filed: 2017-06-12 - Published: 2020-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2017-06-12 - Assignees: Solight - Applicants: Solight Ltd. - Inventors: Ofer Becker - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200174237A1 ## CPC - G02B 19/0042: {for use with direct solar radiation} - G02B 19/0019: {having reflective surfaces only (e.g. louvre systems, systems with multiple planar reflectors)} - G02B 19/0023: {at least one surface having optical power} - G02B 19/0028: {refractive and reflective surfaces, e.g. non-imaging catadioptric systems} - F21S 11/002: {characterised by the means for collecting or concentrating the sunlight, e.g. parabolic reflectors or Fresnel lenses} - G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS - F21S: NON-PORTABLE LIGHTING DEVICES; SYSTEMS THEREOF; VEHICLE LIGHTING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLE EXTERIORS ## Abstract Non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating devices, and assemblies, are disclosed. The non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating devices comprise an entrance aperture for receiving incoming radiation, an exit aperture located opposite to the entrance aperture for outputting concentrated radiation, and one or more concaved reflectors arranged between the entrance and exit apertures. The concaved reflectors define an acceptance angle of the device relative to an optical axis thereof and configured such that their optical focuses are located between edges of the exit aperture and the optical axis, thereby substantially preventing escape of the incoming radiation received in the entrance aperture within the acceptance angle and providing substantial uniform radiation collection at the exit aperture of the device. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device, comprising an entrance aperture for receiving incoming radiation, an exit aperture located opposite to said entrance aperture for outputting concentrated radiation; and one or more concaved reflectors arranged between said entrance and exit apertures, said one or more concaved reflectors defining an acceptance angle of the device relative to an optical axis thereof and configured such that optical focuses thereof are located between an edge of said exit aperture and said optical axis, thereby substantially preventing escape of the incoming radiation received in the entrance aperture within said acceptance angle and providing substantial uniform radiation collection at the exit aperture of the device. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device of claim 1 wherein the one or more concaved reflectors are configured such that the optical focus of each of the one or more concaved reflectors is located either within a region defined by the exit aperture, or above or below the exit aperture. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device of claim 1 wherein a distance between the optical focus of each of the one or more concaved reflectors and an edge of the exit aperture is such that the radiation concentrated by said one or more concave reflectors is focused to the exit aperture without hitting another concaved reflector of the device. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device of claim 3 wherein the distance between the optical focus of each of the one or more concaved reflectors and the opposite edge of the exit aperture is about two tenths of a dimension of the exit aperture. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device of claim 1 wherein a height of the non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device is reduced to about 0.5 of a height of a classical CPC device having the same acceptance angle and the same entrance and exit apertures dimensions. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device of claim 1 wherein a height of the non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device is adjusted to set dimension of the entrance aperture. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device of claim 1 wherein the incoming radiation is received from a solar radiation source. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device of claim 7 wherein the acceptance angle of the device is about 20° to 30°. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device of claim 7 wherein concentration ratio of the device is in the range of 2 to 3. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device of claim 1 wherein the one or more concaved reflectors comprises two concaved reflectors symmetrically positioned one in front of the other. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) A radiation collecting and concentrating device having a polygon funnel-shaped structure constructed by intersection of two or more of the non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating devices of claim 10. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The radiation collecting and concentrating device of claim 1 wherein the one or more concaved reflectors are constructed as a surface revolution of a concaved curve about the optical axis of the device. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) A lighting system, comprising an array of radiation collectors arranged for collection of radiation of a celestial radiation source throughout a predefined trajectory thereof, said array of radiation collectors comprising one or more of the non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating devices according to claim 1. ### Claim 14 A method of constructing a radiation collector, the method comprising: providing one or more concaved reflectors, each of the one or more concaved reflectors configured to reflect and concentrate incident radiation onto a focal region thereof; and arranging said one or more concaved reflectors to define an entrance aperture for receiving incident radiation, an exit aperture for outputting radiation reflected and concentrated by said one or more concaved reflectors, and an optical axis extending along centers of said apertures, such that the focal region of each of the one or more concaved reflectors is obtained between an edge of the exit aperture and said optical axis. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising adjusting heights of at least some of the one or more concaved reflectors to set a dimension of the entrance aperture. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the one or more concaved reflectors are parabolic reflectors configured to define an acceptance angle of the incident radiation, the method further comprising truncating a height of at least some of the one or more concaved reflectors to half of the height of a classical CPC device having the same acceptance angle and exit aperture size. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising configuring the one or more concaved reflectors for locating the focal regions thereof at a distance from an edge of the exit aperture such that the radiation concentrated by said one or more concaved reflectors is focused to the exit aperture without hitting another concaved reflector of the device. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17 wherein configuring the one or more concaved reflectors comprises adjusting a concave depth of the at least some of the reflectors. ### Claim 19 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising using the radiation collector to collect solar radiation. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, further comprising configuring at least some of the one or more concaved reflectors to define acceptance angle of the device of about 20° to 30°. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, further comprising configuring at least some of the one or more concaved reflectors to obtain a concentration ratio of about 2 to 3. ### Claim 22 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17 wherein the one or more concaved reflectors are parabolic reflectors and wherein configuring of the one or more concaved reflectors comprises adjusting at least one of a parabolic focus, parabolic directrix, or parabolic vertex, of said parabolic reflectors. ### Claim 23 A method of modifying a non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device having one or more radiation reflecting elements arrange about an optical axis of the device to define entrance and exit apertures thereof, the method comprising: adjusting a concave depth of the one or more radiation reflecting elements such that optical focuses thereof are shifted a predefined distance from edges of the exit aperture towards the optical axis of the non-imaging radiation collecting and concentrating device, to thereby prevent escape of incoming radiation received at the entrance aperture and provide a substantial uniform radiation collection profile. ### Claim 24 A collector assembly, comprising: an array of radiation collectors configured to form an equilateral radiation collection front for efficiently transferring concentrated light outputted from said array of radiation collectors towards a corresponding equilateral output opening. ### Claim 25 (depends on 1, 24) The collector assembly of claim 24 wherein the array of radiation collectors comprises one or more radiation collecting and concentrating devices of claim 1.