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US 6,080,927 AGranted
Solar concentrator for heat and electricity
OwnerColin Francis Johnsoninventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerColin Francis Johnsoninventor
Estimating the term…
A solar concentrator for producing usable power as heat and/or electricity uses a self-steering heliostat 1502 to concentrate solar radiation 1509 onto an absorbing surface such as, or including, a solar cell array 1511 capable of absorbing power from the radiation, meanwhile removing heat (such as from long-wave infra-red radiation or resistive losses) from the surface with fluid heat transfer means 1503, 1504, then making effective use of that low-grade heat. Thus the solar cell array is kept relatively cool and a larger proportion of the solar energy incident on the reflector unit is used. The invention uses electricity 1506 from the solar cells to move a transporting fluid through a heat exchanger 1504. Excess electricity may be available for local storage or use 1510, or feeding 1512 to the power distribution grid. Applications include warming swimming pools 1501, heating hot-water supplies using excess electricity, or warming, lighting and ventilating open spaces.
A solar concentrator for generating electricity and heat and having at least one concentrator unit, said at least one concentrator unit having:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.