JPH1126800A - Concentrating solar cell device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve light condensing efficiency by allocating multiple light- condensing Fresnel lenses on the same plane, allocating a solar cell at each of their focuses, forming the Fresnel lens into at least one of tetragonal, pentagonal, or hexagonal shape in top view, and placing the lenses adjoining among others with no gaps. SOLUTION: Relating to a square vessel-like casing 1, its opening is covered with a transparent lid plate 2, and in the lid plate 2, many Fresnel lenses 3 are allocated, adjoining among others, while sandwiched between a reinforced glass and a transparent acrylic resin plate. A scare supporting plate 4 is housed in the casing 1, and over it, many solar cells 5 are allocated, which constant intervals, while corresponding to each of Fresnel lenses 3. The Fresnel lenses 3 in the lid plate 2 are square, while provided adjoining among others with no intervals. Each solar cell 5 is always positioned while corresponding to the focus of Fresnel lens 3 for efficient incidence of solar light, resulting in improved light condensing efficiency.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a concentrating solar cell device, and more particularly to a concentrating solar cell device capable of significantly improving the light-collecting efficiency when a large number of light-collecting Fresnel lenses are used. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 8-
No. 357896 discloses a method in which a large number of Fresnel lenses for focusing are arranged in a transparent cover plate covering the opening of a container-like casing, while a large number of solar cells are mounted on a support plate provided in the casing. Thus, there has been proposed a solar cell in which simple and efficient solar power generation is enabled by positioning these solar cells at the focal point of each Fresnel lens for light collection. This will be described further with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. In FIG. 5, the container-like casing 1 is rectangular and a cover plate 2 is covered at its opening. A circular Fresnel lens 7 is arranged.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a lid plate 2 is composed of an upper tempered glass plate 21 and a lower transparent acrylic resin plate 22.
And the Fresnel lens 7 is located between them. It should be noted that the ring-shaped lens portion 71 of the Fresnel lens 7 is shown less than the actual one. A rectangular support plate 4 (FIG. 5) is housed in the casing 1, and a large number of solar cells 5 are arranged on the support plate 4 so as to correspond to the respective Fresnel lenses 7. The support plate 4 can be moved in a two-dimensional plane by a drive mechanism (not shown) and, along with this movement, is moved three-dimensionally in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 5 by a cam mechanism (not shown). As shown in FIG. 6, each solar cell 5 on the support plate 4 has a corresponding Fresnel lens 7.
Is always positioned at the focal point, and the collected sunlight enters (dashed line in FIG. 6).

[0004]

In the case where a circular Fresnel lens 7 is used, if it is arranged adjacent to each other in a vertical and horizontal straight line as described above, as shown in FIG. Produces a rather large gap. For this reason, according to the experiment of the inventor, about 22% of the sunlight incident within a certain area is not condensed on the solar cell 5, and the condensing efficiency is poor. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, if the Fresnel lenses 7 are arranged alternately at different positions in each row, the gap between the lenses (the hatched portion in FIG. 8) can be considerably reduced.
Even in this case, about 9% of the sunlight is not collected and is wasted.

In view of the above, the present invention solves such a problem. Considering the shape of the Fresnel lens for light collection, the light collection efficiency of a large number of adjacent Fresnel lens groups is remarkably improved. It is an object to provide a concentrating solar cell device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a large number of light-collecting Fresnel lenses (3, 6) are provided on the same plane, and these light-collecting Fresnel lenses (3, 6) are arranged. , 6) focus on solar cells (5)
And forming each of the light-collecting Fresnel lenses (3, 6) into at least one of a quadrangle, a pentagon, and a hexagon in plan view.
6) is made adjacent without any gap.

In the present invention, since the light-collecting Fresnel lenses are formed into at least one of a quadrangle, a pentagon, and a hexagon in plan view, these Fresnel lenses may be arranged adjacent to each other without any gaps. it can. Therefore, since there is no gap between the lenses as compared with the conventional circular Fresnel lens, almost all of the sunlight incident within a certain area can be efficiently collected without waste.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a concentrating solar cell device using a Fresnel lens for concentrating light according to the present invention. In the figure, a rectangular container-like casing 1 has an opening covered with a transparent cover plate 2, and inside the cover plate 2, as described in the related art, tempered glass 21 (see FIG. 6) and transparent acrylic resin. A large number of Fresnel lenses 3, which will be described in detail later, are arranged adjacent to each other while being sandwiched between the plates 22. A rectangular support plate 4 is accommodated in the casing 1, and a large number of solar cells 5 are arranged on the support plate 4 at regular intervals in correspondence with the Fresnel lenses 3. Support plate 4
Can be moved in a two-dimensional plane by a drive mechanism (not shown), and with this movement, a cam mechanism (not shown)
Is moved three-dimensionally in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, and as a result,
Each solar cell 5 is always positioned at the focal point of the corresponding Fresnel lens 3 (see FIG. 6), and sunlight enters efficiently.

The Fresnel lenses 3 in the cover plate 2 have a square shape and are provided adjacent to each other without any gap. That is, each of the Fresnel lenses 3 is concentrically arranged in a square region as shown in FIG.
A large number of Fresnel lenses 3 are integrally formed on a transparent acrylic resin plate by molding, and there is no gap between these adjacent Fresnel lenses 3.

According to an experiment by the inventor, the light-collecting efficiency of such a Fresnel lens group is such that although a light-concentration loss of 2 to 3% occurs at a corner portion of a square area of each Fresnel lens 3,
Since there is no gap between the Fresnel lenses, it is greatly improved as compared with the related art. In addition, the square Fresnel lens has an advantage that the cost is lower because it is easier to design a mold at the time of integral molding than a pentagonal or more polygonal lens described later.

(Second Embodiment) In the concentrating solar cell device of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a large number of Fresnel lenses 6 provided in a transparent cover plate 2 are all regular hexagons, and They are provided adjacent to each other without any gap. The solar cells 5 are located on the support plate 2 at the focal points of the Fresnel lenses 6 respectively. Each Fresnel lens 6 is formed by forming a ring-shaped lens portion 61 concentrically in a regular hexagonal area as shown in a partially enlarged view in FIG. Are integrally formed, and these adjacent Fresnel lenses 6
There is no gap between them.

According to the experiment of the inventor, the Fresnel lens 6
Is made to be a regular hexagon, the corner area where the condensing loss occurs is extremely small as compared with the square Fresnel lens 3 of the first embodiment, so that such a Fresnel lens group can obtain a condensing efficiency of almost 100%. Can be Further, this Fresnel lens group can be manufactured at low cost by integrally molding a resin material.

(Other Embodiments) The shape of the Fresnel lens is not limited to a square or a regular hexagon, but may be any other square, hexagon, or pentagon that can be arranged without gaps in a plane. In addition, a square, a pentagon, and a hexagon can be appropriately mixed. In the above embodiments,
The case where the present invention is applied to a solar cell device that positions each solar cell to the focal point of a large number of Fresnel lenses has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can be applied to a device for directing the sun.

[0014]

As described above, in the concentrating solar cell device of the present invention, the shape of the condensing Fresnel lens is formed into at least one of a square, a pentagon, and a hexagon, and these are formed into a gap. By arranging them in a plane, the light collection efficiency of the Fresnel lens groups provided adjacent to each other can be remarkably improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a concentrating solar cell device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged plan view of a Fresnel lens group.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a concentrating solar cell device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged plan view of the Fresnel lens group.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of a conventional concentrating solar cell device.

FIG. 6 is a partially vertical enlarged sectional view of a conventional concentrating solar cell device.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged plan view of a conventional Fresnel lens group.

FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged plan view of a conventional Fresnel lens group.

[Explanation of symbols]

3: Fresnel lens for focusing, 5: solar cell, 6: Fresnel lens for focusing.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shigeo Terada 41-cho, Yokomichi, Nagakute-cho, Aichi-gun, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Central Research Laboratory Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takashi Sagae Wanowari Arao-cho, Tokai-shi, Aichi No. 1 Inside Aichi Steel Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Naoki Ishikawa No. 1 Wanowari Arao-cho, Tokai City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Aichi Steel Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A large number of light-collecting Fresnel lenses are arranged on the same plane, solar cells are respectively arranged at the focal points of these light-collecting Fresnel lenses, and each light-collecting Fresnel lens is viewed in plan. A concentrating solar cell device characterized in that it is formed into at least one of a quadrangle, a pentagon, and a hexagon, and these concentrating Fresnel lenses are adjacent to each other without a gap.