System for solar radiation energy collection and conversion

Abstract

A solar radiation energy collecting system for receiving the sun's rays and focusing them upon a central absorber. A plurality of plane mirrors are mounted in a circular array concentric with a vertical absorber tower, the azimuth angle of each of the mirrors being fixed in the array at the particular angle necessary for it to reflect rays from the sun upon the absorber tower. The mirror array is mounted upon a boat floating on a pond and the boat and mirror array rotated in synchronism with the daily apparent motion of the sun, so as to maintain the desired focusing of reflected solar radiation upon the absorber tower. In one simple embodiment the mirrors are rotated only in a horizontal plane about the vertical axis of the absorber tower, and the varying elevation angles of the sun cause the reflected solar energy to scan up and down along the length of the absorber tower as the sun moves from east to west each day. The absorber tower preferably comprises conduits for delivering fluid to be heated into parts of the tower impinged by the reflected solar radiation energy, and for removing the heated fluid from the tower to a location at which the absorbed heat energy is to be utilized. In some cases the part of the boat not occupied by the above-identified mirrors may be substantially covered with horizontal trough-like reflectors having heat absorbing members disposed along their respective aligned foci, so as to obtain useful solar energy collection from this latter portion of the rotating boat assembly. In other cases the plane-mirror array may be continued around the entire circumference of the boat, especially where the apparatus is utilized in positions near the equator.