A Novel Hexagonal Beam Steering Electrowetting Device for Solar Energy Concentration

Abstract

Traditional tracking devices for solar energy applications have several disadvantages, such as bulky mechanical structure, large wind loads, and ease of misalignment. This study aims to design a flat, thin, and adaptive beam steering device to eliminate these drawbacks. A proof of concept device was fabricated to demonstrate this design. The novelty of the proof of concept device is the hexagonal structure of the electrowetting cell design. The hexagonal cell was dosed with two immiscible liquids with different refractive indices. The hypothesis of this design is that by deforming the liquid shape with the application of voltage, light can be steered and concentrated for solar energy applications. A maximum contact angle change of 44° was observed with the application of 26 V to one of the electrodes of the hexagonal cell. The device demonstrated a 4.5° change of laser beam path with only a 0.2 refractive index difference of the liquids. The 3D simulation model developed in this study shows that a tilted and flat interface can be achieved using higher dielectric constant dielectric materials. The device can facilitate the planer steering and concentration of sunlight for rooftop applications without moving mechanical parts.

Curvilinear soft electronics by micromolding of metal nanowires in capillaries

“…4C (grid linewidth, 150 μm; P = 0.1 mg/cm 2 ). The theoretical transmittance at 550-nm wavelength of the hybrid TCE T h can be calculated on the basis of the transmittances of the random NW network alone T random and the grid alone T grid at 550-nm wavelength,Th=fF×Tgrid+ false(1−fFtrue)×Trandomwhere f F represents the filling factor of the grid, which can be calculated according to the geometry of the grid structure by ( 41 , 42 )fF=L2(L+W)2where L is the side length of the square or the distance between two opposite sides of the hexagon in the grid structure and W is the linewidth of the grid structure.…”

“…where f F represents the filling factor of the grid, which can be calculated according to the geometry of the grid structure by (41,42)…”