Flexible solar power collector
A flexible solar power collector includes a flexible transparent outer tube, a flexible black inner tube inserted through the flexible transparent outer tube for guiding water to a water heater, sealing devices that seal the two ends of the flexible transparent outer tube to define a greenhouse within the flexible transparent outer tube around the flexible black inner tube, a flexible photoelectric converter fastened to the bottom side of the flexible transparent outer tube to convert solar energy into electric energy, and a flexible electrothermal converter connected to the flexible photoelectric converter to transform electric energy into thermal energy.
The present invention relates to a solar power collector and more particularly, to a flexible solar power collector, which comprises a greenhouse made up of a black inner tube, a transparent outer tube and sealing devices, and flexibly curved to fit the contour of the installation location on a building.
A regular solar water heater 10, as shown in
The aforesaid prior art design has numerous drawbacks as outlined hereinafter. (1) The solar water heater 10 is large in size, taking up much installation space. This drawback limits the application of the solar water heater 10. Therefore, the solar water heater 10 of this design can only be installed on the roof of a building where it is directly heated by the sunlight. (2) The solar water heater 10 produces the effect of a greenhouse 14 to lower the temperature of the roof of the building. However, due to limitations to the design and cost, the installed solar water heater 10 can not cover all the surfaces around the building, and the temperature inside the building will unavoidably rise continuously. Therefore, the use of the solar water heater 10 does not offer the additional value of helping lower the temperature around the building. (3) Using the heat-exchange tubes 13 can only generate a limited amount of heat energy, i.e., the solar water heater 10 can not convert solar energy into heat efficiently within a limited time.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a solar photoelectric concentrator that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTIONThe present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide a flexible solar power collector, which comprises a greenhouse made up of a black inner tube, a transparent outer tube and sealing devices, so that it is flexibly curved to fit the contour of the building for free installation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a flexible solar power collector, which is comprised of a flexible solar power collector tube made up of a black inner tube, a transparent outer tube and sealing devices that are easy and inexpensive to manufacture.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a flexible solar power collector, which is comprised of a flexible solar power collector tube made up of a black inner tube, a transparent outer tube and sealing devices and, which collects solar energy and stores the collected solar energy efficiently, so as to lower the surrounding temperature of the building on which it is installed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a flexible solar power collector, which comprises a flexible solar power collector tube made up of a black inner tube, a transparent outer tube, and sealing devices, a flexible photoelectric converter for converting solar energy into electric energy, and a flexible electrothermal converter for transforming electric energy into thermal energy for heating water to a desired temperature level efficiently to reduce the heating time and energy consumption.
Referring to
In use, the running water enters the water inlet 211 into the inner tube 21. When sunlight is cast on the outer tube 22 and the inner tube 21, the black color of the inner tube 21 with good heat absorbing characteristic absorbs the solar energy from sunlight efficiently, enabling the absorbed solar energy to be accumulated in the greenhouse 24 to heat the water flowing through the inner tube 21. At the same time, the flexible photoelectric converter 25 transforms the solar energy of sunlight into electric energy, which is transmitted to the flexible electrothermal converter 26 and converted by the flexible electrothermal converter into thermal energy to heat the water again. Thus, the water heater to which the water outlet 212 of the inner tube 21 is connected can heat water to a desired temperature level efficiently, i.e., the water heater saves much energy consumption when heating up water to a desired temperature level. Further, because the solar power collector tube 20 is flexible, it can be installed at any place of a building to that the sunlight is directly shed, and freely curved to fit the contour of the building (see
A prototype of flexible solar power collector has been constructed with the features of
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in details for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A flexible solar power collector comprising:
- a flexible transparent outer tube;
- a flexible black inner tube inserted through said flexible transparent outer tube, said flexible black inner tube having a water inlet and a water outlet, and
- sealing means secured to said flexible transparent outer tube around said flexible black inner tube to seal said flexible transparent outer tube and to define a greenhouse within said flexible transparent outer tube around said flexible black inner tube.
2. The flexible solar power collector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sealing means is silicon rubber.
3. The flexible solar power collector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sealing means is comprised of two gasket rings respectively fixed to the two distal ends of said flexible transparent outer tube around said flexible black inner tube.
4. The flexible solar power collector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sealing means is comprised of a plurality of sealing devices secured to said flexible transparent outer tube around said flexible black inner tube and spaced from one another along the length of said flexible transparent outer tube to divide said greenhouse into multiple blocks.
5. The flexible solar power collector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sealing means is formed of a thermoexpansion material.
6. The flexible solar power collector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sealing means seals the two distal ends of said flexible transparent outer tube.
7. The flexible solar power collector as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a flexible photoelectric converter adapted to convert solar energy into electric energy, and a flexible electrothermal converter electrically connected to said flexible photoelectric converter and adapted to convert electric energy into heat energy.
8. The flexible solar power collector as claimed in claim 7, wherein said flexible photoelectric converter is secured to a bottom side of said flexible transparent outer tube and extending in a horizontal direction.
9. The flexible solar power collector as claimed in claim 7, wherein said flexible electrothermal converter is spirally arranged around said flexible black inner tube an extending in a horizontal direction.
Type: Application
Filed: May 18, 2007
Publication Date: Nov 20, 2008
Inventor: Chao Hung Chen (Taichung City)
Application Number: 11/802,099
International Classification: F24J 2/36 (20060101);