WO2015173924A1 - Vertical solar cell unit - Google Patents

Abstract

This vertical solar cell unit (1) is provided with flat plate solar cells (2) which on at least one side have a light-receiving surface (4) that receives sunlight (S), and with a flat plate light guide plate (3) which can refract or reflect part of the incident sunlight (S). The solar cells (2) are arranged separated by an interval such that the light-receiving surfaces (4) are substantially parallel to the sunlight (S), and the aforementioned light guide plate (3) is arranged between the solar cells (2). Thus, the installation space of the solar cells (2) can be reduced as much as possible, and, through the light guide plate (3), sunlight (S) can be supplied evenly to the entirety of the light receiving surfaces (4).

Description

Vertical solar cell unit

The present invention relates to a vertically installed solar cell unit installed with a light receiving surface arranged in a direction substantially parallel to sunlight.

Usually, a solar cell is formed in a flat plate shape, and a light receiving surface for taking in sunlight is formed on one side or both sides. A plurality of solar cells arranged side by side is called a solar panel. The solar panel is arranged on the roof of a building or the like so that the light receiving surface of each solar cell is in a direction substantially perpendicular to sunlight. It is a so-called horizontal type. Thereby, sunlight is received in such a way that it is received uniformly over the entire surface of the light receiving surface.

However, when the solar cell is installed as a horizontal type, an installation area substantially the same as the size of the solar cell is required, and space is restricted. For this reason, a solar power generation system has been proposed in which the light receiving surface is perpendicular to the horizontal plane (see, for example, Patent Document 1). It seems that it will be necessary in the future to efficiently receive sunlight for solar cells arranged to reduce the installation area.

JP 2013-165141 A

The present invention is based on the above prior art, and provides a vertical solar cell unit that can reduce the installation area and can efficiently receive sunlight on the light receiving surface of the solar cell. It is aimed.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a flat plate solar cell having a light receiving surface for receiving sunlight on at least one surface, and a flat plate shape capable of refracting or reflecting a part of incident sunlight. A plurality of light guide plates, and the solar cells are arranged side by side so that the light receiving surface is substantially parallel to the sunlight, and the light guide plates are disposed between the solar cells. A vertically installed solar cell unit is provided.

Preferably, the vertical solar cell unit further includes a lens disposed at a distance from the incident surface of the light guide plate on which the sunlight is incident.

Preferably, the lens is a cylindrical lens.

Preferably, the cylindrical lens has a groove formed by being cut out on the surface.

Preferably, the light guide plate has a light supply surface disposed to face the light receiving surface of the solar cell, and surfaces other than the light supply surface and the incident surface are covered with a reflecting member.

According to the present invention, since a plurality of solar cells are arranged side by side so that their light receiving surfaces are substantially parallel to sunlight, the space for installing the solar cells can be reduced to the limit. Can improve efficiency in terms of space. In addition, since a plurality of solar cells are arranged side by side and a light guide plate is disposed between them, it is possible to uniformly supply sunlight to the entire light receiving surface through the light guide plate. it can. For this reason, the power generation capability of the solar cell can be sufficiently exhibited.

In addition, by arranging the lens with an interval with respect to the incident surface of the light guide plate, it is possible to collect sunlight more efficiently and supply sunlight to the light guide plate, so that much sunlight is Can be supplied to. If this lens is a cylindrical lens, the design can be facilitated. Further, by forming grooves in the cylindrical lens, sunlight can be converged and collected, so that further sunlight can be captured.

In addition, by covering the light guide plate other than the light supply surface and the incident surface with a reflecting member, all the sunlight incident in the light guide plate can be supplied from the light supply surface toward the solar cell. Condensation efficiency is improved.

It is the schematic of the vertical installation type solar cell unit which concerns on this invention. It is the schematic of a light-guide plate. It is the schematic which shows another example of the vertical installation type solar cell unit which concerns on this invention. It is the schematic of the groove | channel formed in the lens. It is a schematic perspective view of the lens in which the groove | channel was formed.

As shown in FIG. 1, a vertical solar cell unit 1 according to the present invention includes a solar cell 2 and a light guide plate 3. The solar cell 2 has a flat plate shape, and has at least one surface as a light receiving surface 4 of front and back surfaces having a large area. The sunlight S is received from the light receiving surface 4, and the solar cell converts light energy into electric power. A plurality of solar cells 2 are arranged side by side so that the light receiving surface 4 is substantially parallel to the sunlight S.

A light guide plate 3 is disposed between the solar cells 2. Similar to the solar cell 2, the light guide plate 3 is also formed in a substantially flat plate shape. The light guide plate 3 has a surface facing the light receiving surface 4 of the front and back surfaces having a large area as the light supply surface 5. The light guide plate 3 has a side surface on which sunlight S is incident as the incident surface 6. The light guide plate 3 can refract or reflect a part of the sunlight S incident from the incident surface 6. As the light guide plate 3, raw materials such as glass, acrylic, and polycarbonate can be used. In order to further increase the refractive index and reflectance, a notch groove may be formed on the entire exposed surface of the light guide plate 3.

Sunlight S emitted from the sun partially refracts and enters the light guide plate 3 when passing through the incident surface 6 of the light guide plate 3. Then, the light advances through the light guide plate 3 as it is, and is further refracted by the light supply surface 5 and emitted to the outside. The emitted sunlight S proceeds as it is, and is incident on the light receiving surface 4 positioned opposite to the light supply surface 5. In addition, although there is a part of sunlight S which is reflected without being refracted on the light supply surface 5 and travels again in the light guide plate 3, it is eventually emitted from the light supply surface 5 by repeatedly reflecting in the light guide plate 3. Is done.

With such a configuration, first, the solar cells 2 are arranged side by side with a space so that the light receiving surface 4 is substantially parallel to the sunlight S. Therefore, the space for installing the solar cells 2 is increased. It can be reduced to the limit, and the space efficiency can be increased. A plurality of the solar cells 2 are arranged at intervals, and the light guide plate 3 is disposed therebetween. Therefore, the sunlight S is uniformly distributed over the entire light receiving surface 4 through the light guide plate 3. Can be supplied. For this reason, the electric power generation capability which the solar cell 2 has can fully be exhibited.

In order to enhance such an effect, both the front and back surfaces having a large area of the light guide plate 3 are used as the light supply surfaces 5, and both the front and back surfaces having a large area of the solar cell 2 are used as the light receiving surfaces 4. It is preferable to arrange the solar cells 2 alternately. In this way, the installation area can be further reduced.

As shown in FIG. 2, the surface of the light guide plate 3 other than the light supply surface 5 and the incident surface 6 is covered with a reflecting member 7. That is, all side surfaces of the light guide plate 3 other than the incident surface 6 are covered with the reflecting member 7. Thus, by covering the light guide plate 3 other than the light supply surface 5 and the incident surface 6 with the reflecting member 7, all the sunlight S incident in the light guide plate 3 is directed from the light supply surface 5 to the solar cell 2. The light collection efficiency of sunlight S is improved. This is because the sunlight S that has reached the side surface of the light guide plate 3 can be reflected by the reflecting member 7, can be advanced through the light guide plate 3, and can be emitted from the light supply surface 5 before long. As the reflecting member 7, a white plate or a tape on which silver deposition is performed can be used.

As shown in FIG. 3, a lens 8 may be disposed in the vicinity of the light guide plate 3. As a specific example, FIG. 3 shows a cylindrical lens arranged as a lens 8. The lens 8 is disposed with a gap with respect to the incident surface 6 of the light guide plate 3. Specifically, it is disposed through a clearance of 3 mm to 5 mm. By arranging the lens 8 in this way, the sunlight S can be refracted and condensed efficiently. For this reason, much sunlight S can be made incident on the light guide plate 3. The lens 8 may be a Fresnel lens as long as it can refract the sunlight S and collect it at a desired location. Since the refraction can be easily calculated by using the cylindrical lens, the design for the arrangement becomes easy. Moreover, although the example of the figure shows an example of the lens 8 whose surface facing the incident surface 6 is curved, the curved surface may be arranged on the side where the direct sunlight S directly hits. In this way, a large amount of sunlight S is condensed using the lens 8 and strengthened by refraction, and by supplying the light to the light guide plate 3, a large amount of sunlight S can be supplied to the solar cell 2. Solar energy can be supplied to the solar cell 2.

On the other hand, a groove 9 may be formed on the surface of the lens 8 as shown in FIG. The groove 9 is formed by being mechanically processed using, for example, a laser or the like. The shape is formed, for example, in a V-shaped cross section. A plurality of the grooves 9 are formed at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the lens 8. Further, the groove 9 is formed continuously in the circumferential direction of the circle along the arc of the lens 8. By forming the groove 9 thus cut out, the sunlight S emitted from the groove 9 can be reliably converged as shown in FIG. That is, the light convergence group 10 can be formed along the longitudinal direction of the lens 8. Thereby, further uptake | capture of sunlight S to the light-guide plate 3 and the solar cell 2 is realizable.

In addition, you may provide the reflection member 7 formed in the light-guide plate 3 mentioned above also on surfaces (for example, flat side surfaces) other than the curved surface from which the sunlight S of the lens 8 is emitted. Thereby, all the sunlight S passing through the lens 8 can be efficiently supplied to the light guide plate 3.

Although it will be repeated, the installation area can be reduced by making the solar cell 2 vertical. In addition to this, the present invention efficiently supplies sunlight S to the solar cell 2 using the light guide plate 3 and the lens 8. Since the sunlight S is collected by the light guide plate 3 and the lens 8, it is not necessary to move the solar cell 2 in accordance with the direction of Taiyo. For this reason, construction is also simplified, which can contribute to the efficiency of construction and cost reduction.

1: vertical solar cell unit, 2: solar cell, 3: light guide plate, 4: light receiving surface, 5: light supply surface, 6: incident surface, 7: reflecting member, 8: lens, 9: groove, 10: Light convergence group, S: sunlight

Claims (5)

A flat plate solar cell having a light receiving surface for receiving sunlight on at least one surface;
A flat light guide plate that can refract or reflect a part of incident sunlight,
The solar cells are arranged side by side with an interval so that the light receiving surface is substantially parallel to the sunlight,
The vertical solar cell unit, wherein the light guide plate is disposed between the solar cells. The vertical solar cell unit according to claim 1, further comprising a lens disposed at a distance from an incident surface of the light guide plate on which the sunlight is incident. The vertical solar cell unit according to claim 2, wherein the lens is a cylindrical lens. The vertical solar cell unit according to claim 3, wherein the cylindrical lens has a groove formed by being cut out on a surface thereof. The light guide plate has a light supply surface disposed to face the light receiving surface of the solar cell, and a surface other than the light supply surface and the incident surface is covered with a reflecting member. Item 3. A vertically installed solar cell unit according to item 2.

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