(ORDO NEWS) — A group of scientists from Stanford University has created a special lens for solar panels. It is designed to always focus the light on the solar cell in all conditions.
This will make it possible to collect solar energy with maximum efficiency without an orientation system and in conditions far from ideal.
Outside, the lens resembles a cropped and inverted pyramid. In fact, this is a multilayer structure made of different polymeric materials and with a large number of faces.
Important development
While designing the lens, scientists studied various methods to help direct light to the desired point with a given refractive index in each layer.
In addition, it was necessary to take into account the thermal expansion, which differs for different materials.
As a result, scientists had to conduct a large-scale scientific study, because it was necessary that the prism-like lens could focus light on the photocell from the rays of the Sun falling at different angles and would not be destroyed.
What does it give in practice
Passive technology for focusing light on photocells – Axially Graded Index Lenses (AGILE) – during the experiments showed the ability to collect up to 90% of the light and increase its brightness when focusing by 3 times.
This can help reduce the area of both the solar panels themselves and the space they occupy, which, by the way, is not so much if you rely heavily on solar energy.
For example, there are no sufficient areas in the Land of the Rising Sun, while Europe is given agricultural land for this purpose.
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