Cross Reference To Related Applications

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional application No. 63/077,257, filed on September 11 , 2020; the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates to a photovoltaic renewable energy system that utilizes a light source and one or more reflectors to produce power via photovoltaic cells.

Background

[0003] Photovoltaic cells are useful for producing power during daylight hours and this power can be stored in a battery for use during the night. There are many situations however wherein there is not enough power during the night and additional power is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The invention is directed to a photovoltaic renewable energy system that utilizes a light source and one or more reflectors to produce power via photovoltaic cells. An exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system utilizes a light source, such as Light Emitting Diodes (LED), to provide light to photovoltaic cells that therein produce electrical power. The photovoltaic cells may be arranged in a photovoltaic array to ensure maximum power conversion from the incident light. An inlet reflector, such as a prism may be used to direct light from the light source onto the photovoltaic cells or into a light inlet to an array of photovoltaic cells. A cell reflector, which may also be a prism, may be configured proximal to the photovoltaic cell surfaces to reflect light onto the photovoltaic surface to increase power conversion. [0005] A reflector may be a prism that diffracts light and may separate light into the components of light, wherein a white light may be broken into the various colors of visible light. Photovoltaic cells may operate more efficiently with exposure to certain wavelengths of light, such as red light having a wavelength of between about 635- 700nm. Visible light may range from 380 to 700nm and span violet to red light. A reflector such as a prism or refractive element may filter out certain wavelengths of light or separate the light into various wavelengths, such as into red light while absorbing other wavelengths of light. A reflector may be doped with a dopant to diffract and/or absorb light or portions of light within wavelength ranges.

[0006] In an exemplary embodiment, a photovoltaic array comprises two planar photovoltaic cells arranged to form a light inlet therebetween. The two planar photovoltaic cells may be configured at a diverging angle to produce the light inlet and may create a light funnel that tapers from the light inlet down along the two photovoltaic cells. An inlet prism may be configured between the light source and the light inlet and a cell prism may be configured between the two planar and diverging photovoltaic cells. A housing around the photovoltaic cells may also include a reflective surface.

[0007] In another embodiment, a light source, such as a cylindrical light source is configured within a light inlet formed by photovoltaic cells that extend around the light source. The photovoltaic cell or cells may form a closed enclosure, such as a cylindrical enclosure around the light source. A reflector may be configured between the light source and the photovoltaic cells. A housing around the photovoltaic cells may also include a reflective surface.

[0008] An exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system is a self-contained renewable energy system that may be used to provide electricity for a multitude of purposes including but not limited to cell phones, computers, consumer electronic appliances, automobiles, aircraft, boats, homes, commercial/industrial buildings, city, state, and national power plants and grids. The photovoltaic renewable energy system units may vary in size, shape and output depending upon its required use. In an exemplary embodiment, the photovoltaic renewable energy system is portable and has no dimension, length, width, thickness or diameter greater than 1 m, preferably no greater than 0.5m and even more preferably no more than 0.25m. In addition, the photovoltaic renewable energy system may be a mini photovoltaic renewable energy system that is small in size and configured for smaller power requirements, such as providing power to smaller electronic devices, including, but not limited to, mobile telephones, GPS devices, watches, radios, music players, battery back-up devices and the like. A mini photovoltaic renewable energy system may have no dimension, length, width, thickness or diameter greater than 100mm, no more than 75mm, no more than 50mm or even no more than 25mm. These mini photovoltaic renewable energy systems may be configured within an electronic device and may utilize light received through a window of the housing of the device or light from a light source within the device. This internal light from an internal light source may emit out from the device as well.

[0009] An exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system may be a mini photovoltaic renewable energy system used to power smaller electronic devices, such as phones, computers and the like. A mini photovoltaic renewable energy system may have small dimensions of length, width and thickness of no more than about 25mm, or no more than about 10mm, or even no more than 5mm. These dimensions may be of the housing configured around the photovoltaic renewable energy system.

[0010] The photovoltaic renewable energy system is unique in that it does not need to be recharged externally or require an external light to operate, such as sunlight. An exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system is able to provide electricity continuously with an integral light source with little to no maintenance. As described herein, an exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system employs a design that mounts photovoltaic cells/modules in an enclosure that may or be lined with reflective materials and is there after activated by battery powered LEDs that are aligned with paired prisms or lenses that direct the light to the photovoltaic cells, referred to herein as “photovoltaic lensing.”

[0011] The photovoltaic renewable energy system may be designed for a wide variety of uses and as such a variety of photovoltaic cells may be used to suit the desired output and application. The prisms may be needed when transparent photovoltaic cells/modules are used. Photovoltaic cells in the form of photovoltaic paint may also be placed in a number of materials including directly on the surface of the prisms or lenses. An exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system may be filled with a material, such as a resin or gels to mitigate vibrations, heat, and fire hazards.

[0012] The photovoltaic renewable energy system is designed to be compatible with external photovoltaic components such as, but not limited to breakers, DC combiner boxes, and DC disconnect boxes. [0013] An optical prism is a transparent optical element with flat surfaces that refract light, wherein at least one surface must be an angled. An exemplary optical prism is a triangular prism having a triangular base and rectangular sides. A reflector or prism may have various shapes however, such as rectangular, wherein the top and bottom surfaces are planar and extend parallel with each other and rectangular in shape. A prisms is made from a material that is transparent to light produced by the light source, or at least a portion of the light and may be made of glass, plastic, or fluorite. A dispersive prism breaks up white light up into its constituent spectral colors. Furthermore, prisms can be used to reflect light, or to split light into components with different polarizations.

[0014] A flexible photovoltaic cell is configured on a flexible substrate whereby the photovoltaic cell or cells can bend and flex to conform to a desired shape, such as a cylinder, the substrate may a foil or film or fabric and may comprise metal, plastic, paper or composite materials, for example.

[0015] The summary of the invention is provided as a general introduction to some of the embodiments of the invention, and is not intended to be limiting. Additional example embodiments including variations and alternative configurations of the invention are provided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

[0017] Figure 1 shows a front view of an exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system having photovoltaic cell arrays with pairs of planar photovoltaic cells configured at diverging angles to produce a light inlet and tapering light channel. [0018] Figure 2 shows a front enlarged view of an exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system comprising a photovoltaic cell array with pairs of planar photovoltaic cells configured at diverging angles to produce a light inlet and tapering light channel, [0019] Figure 3 shows a perspective view of an exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system having photovoltaic cell arrays with pairs of planar photovoltaic cells configured at diverging angles to produce a light inlet and tapering light channel. [0020] Figure 4 shows a top view of an exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system having photovoltaic cell arrays with pairs of planar photovoltaic cells configured at diverging angles to produce a light inlet and tapering light channel. [0021] Figure 5 shows a perspective view of an exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system having photovoltaic cells configured around a light source.

[0022] Figure 6 shows a perspective view of an exemplary mini photovoltaic renewable energy system having photovoltaic cell arrays with pairs of planar photovoltaic cells configured at diverging angles to produce a light inlet and tapering light channel.

[0023] Figure 7 shows a front view of an electronic device with a mini photovoltaic renewable energy system configured therein.

[0024] Figure 8 shows a back view of an electronic device with a mini photovoltaic renewable energy system configured therein and a window in the electronic device housing to allow ambient light to radiate on the mini photovoltaic renewable energy system for power production.

[0025] Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the figures. The figures represent an illustration of some of the embodiments of the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner. Further, the figures are not necessarily to scale, some features may be exaggerated to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

[0026] As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," "including," "has," "having" or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Also, use of "a" or "an" are employed to describe elements and components described herein. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the scope of the invention. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

[0027] Certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein and are illustrated in the accompanying figures. The embodiments described are only for purposes of illustrating the present invention and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention, and certain modifications, combinations and improvements of the described embodiments, will occur to those skilled in the art and all such alternate embodiments, combinations, modifications, improvements are within the scope of the present invention.

[0028] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, an exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system 10 has photovoltaic cell arrays 52 of pairs of planar photovoltaic cells 50, 50’ configured at diverging angles 56 to produce a light inlet 54 and tapering light channel. A light source 20, such as LED lights 22 are configured over the top of the photovoltaic cell housing 40. An inlet light reflector 30, such as an inlet prism 32 is configured between the light source and the light inlet 54 to the tapering light channel. A cell reflector 34, such as a cell prism 36 is configured between the two tapering photovoltaic cells in the cell array. In this way, light from the light source is directed down into the cell prism and the cell prism reflects light onto the photovoltaic cells, and may reflect it at an orthogonal angle to provide high efficiency. A controller 70 may be used to control the lights, such as when the light source is turned on and off as function of the battery charge, for example, changing the intensity or wattage applied to the lights and charging of a battery 80. The battery may be used for powering an electronic device.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 40 may comprise reflective surfaces 48 on the interior of the housing to reflect light back into the energy converter assembly 12. The reflective surfaces may include one or more reflectors which may be a mirror, a reflective coating or paint, for example. The housing has perimeter walls 45 that extend around the energy converter 12, a housing cap 41 and a housing base 43. A housing may completely encapsulate the photovoltaic renewable energy system 10 or the energy conversion portion 12. Also, the housing may include housing light apertures 44 to emit light from the housing, whereby the photovoltaic renewable energy system 10 acts as a light source.

[0030] Referring now to FIG. 5, an exemplary photovoltaic renewable energy system 10 has a photovoltaic cell or cells 50 configured around a light source, 20, such as a LED 22. The photovoltaic cell 50 may comprises a plurality of individual cells that are configured to form a light inlet 54 between the photovoltaic cells, such as a cylindrical shaped light inlet, or a closed light inlet, wherein photovoltaic cells are configured completely around the light inlet, as shown in FIG. 5. The photovoltaic cell may comprise a flexible photovoltaic cell 58 that is configured on a flexible substrate that can form an enclosure around the light source, such as a cylindrical enclosure. The light source is cylindrical in shape as well. A battery 80 is configured on an opposing end of the housing 40 from the light inlet 54 and may be configured to provide power to the light source. The battery contact 82 may be configured to contact the extended end of the light source to power the light source.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 5, the housing has a cylindrically shaped perimeter wall 45, a housing cap 41 that has the light source coupled thereto and a housing base 43 having a battery coupled thereto. The housing 40, such as the housing cap 41 , the housing bottom 44 and perimeter wall 45 may have reflective surfaces 48, 48’ to reflect light back into the energy converter 12. The housing also has a plurality of light apertures 44 to emit light from the housing, whereby the photovoltaic renewable energy system 10 acts as a light source. The photovoltaic cells may extend vertically between the light apertures to form a partial enclosure around the light source.

[0032] Figure 6 shows a perspective view of an exemplary mini photovoltaic renewable energy system 10 having photovoltaic cell arrays with pairs of planar photovoltaic cells 50 configured at on either side of a refractive element 38, which may be a cell prism 36 or an element that refract light from the light inlet 54 outward onto the photovoltaic cells. A refractive element may have opposing planar surfaces extending along opposing photovoltaic cells, or the planar surfaces may be at an angle to one another to form a prism. The cell refractive element 38 may be a rectangular prism having rectangular top and bottom surfaces that are adjacent to the photovoltaic cells 50. As described herein, a mini photovoltaic renewable energy system 10 may have no dimension, length, width or thickness, or diameter of more than 25mm. As shown, the mini photovoltaic renewable energy system is coupled to an electronic device 86, such as a mobile phone, by a charging cable 84 to charge the phone by the battery 80. The exemplary mini photovoltaic renewable energy system 10 shown in FIG. 6 may have no dimension, as defined herein greater than 100mm.

[0033] Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, an electronic device 86, such as a mobile phone 88, is configured with a mini photovoltaic renewable energy system 10 that is configured inside of the electronic device. A light source 20 coupled with the electronic device provides the light energy to the mini photovoltaic renewable energy system. The mini photovoltaic renewable energy system may produce power and supply this produced power to the electronic device. A window 89 may be configured in the electronic device housing 87 to allow ambient light to radiate onto the mini photovoltaic renewable energy system for power production. Again, this power produced may be supplied to the electronic device. The window may have a translucent window cover 90 such as a glass or polymer to protect the interior of the electronic device but allow light therethrough. An exemplary translucent window may allow at least 70% of light to pass therethrough and preferably 80% or more, and even more preferably 90% or more.

[0034] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention. Specific embodiments, features and elements described herein may be modified, and/or combined in any suitable manner. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications, combinations and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.