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Glint Photonics is developing a novel solar concentrator in which an embedded liquid layer provides passive and automatic optical alignment to the incident sunlight, adjusting the optical properties of the concentrator to track the position of the sun. This “self-tracking” functionality is actuated by the sunlight itself, and doesn’t require any control system. It results in high-concentration optics with a wide effective acceptance angle, eliminating the requirement for precise alignment that has so-far limited concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems in delivering high efficiency conversion at low system cost. The self-aligning CPV module maintains the simple mounting characteristics of traditional flat-plate PV, and may be placed on standard low-precision trackers or even in stationary configurations. The design permits wide manufacturing tolerances, as the concentrator can automatically compensate for misalignment and manufacturing variability in the optical components. The concentrator itself is designed to be extremely low-cost, due to low material usage and simple manufacturing.
Small lenses focus sunlight onto an adaptive material that helps track the movement of the sun.
Glint's products will lower the cost of solar energy, improve the performance of cameras, enable agile lightweight optics in the infrared, and more.
A new material, combined with a cheap tracking system, could unleash the promise of concentrated solar power. A material with optical properties that change to help it capture more incoming sunlight could cut the cost of solar power in half, according to Glint Photonics.
Glint’s adaptive material greatly reduces the cost of a tracking system used in some types of solar power. It changes its reflectivity in response to heat from concentrated sunlight in a way that makes it possible capture light coming in at different angles throughout the day.
It’s well known that focusing sunlight makes it possible to use smaller, cheaper solar cells. But this is usually done with lenses or mirrors, which must be moved precisely as the sun advances across the sky to ensure that concentrated sunlight remains focused on the cells. The equipment required for that and the large amount of steel and concrete needed to keep the apparatus steady makes the approach expensive.
Glint’s light concentrator has two parts. The first is an array of thin, inexpensive lenses that concentrate sunlight. The second is a sheet of glass that serves to concentrate that light more—up to 500 times—as light gathered over its surface is concentrated at its edges.
Glint’s CEO Peter Kozodoy says solar power from its devices could cost four cents per kilowatt-hour, compared to eight cents per kilowatt-hour for the best conventional solar panels.
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