초록 ▼

A conventional fiber optic solar collector employs a matrix of lenses mounted in an enclosure similar to that of a conventional flat plate collector. Each lens focuses a solar image upon the open end of a respective optical fiber. The fibers are bundled together and led to a using device. In this co

A conventional fiber optic solar collector employs a matrix of lenses mounted in an enclosure similar to that of a conventional flat plate collector. Each lens focuses a solar image upon the open end of a respective optical fiber. The fibers are bundled together and led to a using device. In this conventional system the entire enclosure is rotated to face the sun. The present invention permits this enclosure to be mounted in fixed position facing the southern sky. As the sun traverses the sky, a pattern of solar images sweeps across the focal plane of the lenses. A plate is placed in this focal plane and the optical fibers mounted in it so that their open ends form a similar pattern. The plate is then moved to cause the solar images to fall on their respective optical fibers. In a significant improvement, a second plate is mounted behind the first. Fibers pass through holes in this second plate. The second plate is moved in conjunction with the first so that the open ends of the fibers are maintained perpendicular to the paraxial rays of the incident radiation.

대표청구항 ▼

A stationary solar collector system for collecting solar radiation from the sun; said system comprising means, including a matrix of lenses, for focusing solar radiation onto a focal plane to form a set of solar images in said plane; a set of optical fibers, each of said fibers having an open end; a

A stationary solar collector system for collecting solar radiation from the sun; said system comprising means, including a matrix of lenses, for focusing solar radiation onto a focal plane to form a set of solar images in said plane; a set of optical fibers, each of said fibers having an open end; a positioning plate holding said open ends of said fibers within a common plane which is coincident with said focal plane; and positioning means for moving said plate laterally relative to said matrix of lenses, said optical fibers being substantially equal in number to the number of lenses in said matrix and positioned within said plate with said open ends being in the same pattern or configuration as the lenses in said matrix and such that each open end is at the focal point of a corresponding lens in said matrix, said positioning means moving said plate laterally relative to said matrix of lenses in such manner that said pattern of open ends of said fibers can always be made to coincide with said pattern of solar images as the sun traverses the solar collector.