Micropyramid lenses triple the light that hits solar panels – TechCrunch

Stacks of teeny lenses that appear to be inverted pyramids may juice up photo voltaic panels, serving to them seize extra mild from any angle on each sunny and overcast days.

Photo voltaic panels carry out greatest in direct daylight, which is why some photo voltaic programs monitor the massive fireball throughout the sky, turning to face it for optimum mild. Sadly, such monitoring tech is expensive and transferring components can break.

Shortcomings like these motivated researchers at Stanford to develop an alternate. The ensuing tech — named Axially Graded Index Lens, or AGILE for brief — presents a technique to increase the effectivity of static photo voltaic panels, even in diffuse mild, authors Nina Vaidya and Olav Solgaard mentioned in a peer-reviewed paper. Prototype arrays of AGILE lenses efficiently concentrated mild right into a 3x smaller space, whereas retaining 90% of its energy within the best-case state of affairs, and nicely forward of extra elementary concentrators when the sunshine was extra slanted (typically concentrators can sacrifice mild depth however come out forward of gathering angle). 

Concentrating mild to squeeze extra vitality out of photo voltaic panels is nothing new, however the authors level out that concentrators similar to fresnel lenses and mirrors present solely “modest acceptance angles.” By the way, the pyramidal design additionally succeeds in wanting glamorous in a render video launched alongside the paper.

The AGILE lens prototype proven in three levels of improvement. A: Bonded glass. B: With aluminum sidewalls. C: With a photo voltaic cell absorbing mild. Picture Credit: Nina Vaidya

The web is plagued by neat concepts that would assist us seize extra vitality from the solar. Many are impressed by issues in nature, similar to butterfly wings, fly eyes, flower petals and even puffer fish. The design for AGILE “didn’t come from nature,” says Vaidya, however the paper acknowledges that “there are options of AGILE that may be discovered within the retina of fish (e.g., Gnathonemus) and compound eyes in bugs (e.g., Lepidoptera), the place a gradient index is current as anti-reflection to maximise transmission in addition to to allow camouflage.”

Although the researchers didn’t announce any plans to commercialize AGILE, the prototypes had been designed with the photo voltaic trade in thoughts utilizing available supplies, in accordance with a Stanford press launch.

“Ample and inexpensive clear vitality is a crucial a part of addressing the pressing local weather and sustainability challenges,” mentioned Vaidya. “We have to catalyze engineering options to make {that a} actuality.”