The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 06, 1979
Filed:
Jun. 06, 1977
Narinder S Kapany, Woodside, CA (US);
Edgar E Hardy, Kettering, OH (US);
Thomas A Orofino, Centerville, OH (US);
Monsanto Research Corporation, St. Louis, MO (US);
Abstract
A solar energy collector is described which consists of either a photoelectric cell or a heat-absorbing material mounted within a hollow concentrator. The photoelectric cell has the form of a rod of a monocrystalline element or compound with a generally cylindrical junction spaced at a distance radially inwardly from the outer surface of the rod. The photoelectric cell is mounted within a hollow transparent trough shaped concentrator or body which contains a liquid, e.g. water, which can be made to flow in order to both cool the photoelectric cell, thereby improving its efficiency, and to promote transmission of solar energy to the photoelectric cell by total internal reflectance. The heat absorbing material can be a metal pipe through which liquid can be made to flow to remove heat absorbed by the pipe, and preferably the pipe will be coated black on the outside surface to promote the absorption of heat into the pipe, and/or the liquid in the hollow transparent trough-shaped body can be made to flow over heat absorbing material to recover heat energy.