Internally-heated thermal and externally-cool photovoltaic cascade solar energy system for full solar spectrum utilization

US10043932B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology · US

Inventors

• Gang Chen · Berkeley Heights, US
• Evelyn N. Wang · Cambridge, US
• Svetlana Boriskina · Winchester, US
• Kenneth McEnaney · Cornish, US
• Hadi Ghasemi · Houston, US
• Selcuk Yerci · Watertown, US
• Andrej Lenert · Ann Arbor, US
• Sungwoo Yang · Chattanooga, US
• Nenad Miljkovic · Cambridge, US
• Lee A. Weinstein · Somerville, US
• David Bierman · Cambridge, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 20, 2014
• Grant date: Aug 7, 2018
• Expiry date: Oct 21, 2035

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y02E10/60
• WIPO field: Thermal processes and apparatus
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A single-stack, solar power receiver comprising both a thermal absorber layer and a photovoltaic cell layer. The stack includes an aerogel layer, that is optically transparent and thermally insulating (“OTTI”); a spectrally selective high thermal conductivity (“SSTC”) thermal absorber layer; a bottom OTTI layer; and a PV cell layer. The SSTC layer includes a set of fins that substantially blocks solar radiation absorption in the band where PV cells are most sensitive. Photons with energies above or below this band block range are absorbed by the fins and the absorbed heat is conducted to pipes in the fin structure carrying a heated thermal working fluid to heat storage. Photons with energy in the band block range are reflected by the SSTC fins to the PV cell layer. The bottom OTTI aerogel layer keeps the PV cell operating near ambient temperature. The PV cell converts incident solar radiation to electrical energy.