LSO Pictures
October 27th, 2008 by Nic Morgan
So, we’ve been busy applying for different programs and getting some documentation ready for a few people and we realized that we didn’t have a photo of one of the really cool looking prototypes. JP and I got out into the sun yesterday and snapped a few, and they came out really well.
The LSO in these photos was cut on a diamond turning machine, and in this configuration is a disc, concentrating to the centre. The LSOs in the Simba panels are triangular, but they’re basically just pie slices out of the disc version of the optic.
JP wasn’t posing or anything, I just got him in the shot and it came out looking really cool. Here are some good images of the LSO itself.
Two things to note here. First, at the viewing angle of the photo you can sort of see JP’s hand through the optic, but the LSO’s shadow is just as dark as JP’s hand’s shadow - it’s completely blocking the direct light. Second, that bright spot in the centre is concentrated light reflecting off glitter (like from a craft store) suspended in silicone gel. You need something in the centre to scatter the light, or it would just shine right through to the other side and out the far edges. In the photos it’s saturated, but standing there, it was too bright to look at directly.
The concentration where it strikes the silicone is around 50 suns, although if you popped it out (and you could, easily) and put a point target in the very centre, you could go up to 1000 suns or beyond with this prototype.
Here’s the view edge on - looking through the LSO at the bright spot in the centre.
Pretty cool eh?
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6 Responses to “LSO Pictures”
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Vladan Says:
October 28th, 2008 at 2:21 amI’m really inpatient to see the final product. Especially when you think that I live on a tropical Island wher we have a sun 365 days a year… (exept some cyclone).
I hope that some local Solar integrator will be interested for the import.
Keep going guys.
Vladan -
Nic Morgan Says:
October 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pmThanks Vladan, and thanks for the links and comments over at your blog , http://www.best-solar-energy.com/. I have your blog in my RSS feeds and I read it quite a bit.
I’m impatient too, but we’ve decided to test early and test often, and as much as we’d like to rush to market, we’d rather take longer and come to market with a really excellent product.
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Brian Says:
November 12th, 2008 at 8:55 amThis looks like great technology - hoping to see some make it to the greater Boston area. We’re no tropical island, but we have enough sun to make it fun - can’t wait to actually try this out on a small installation. Keep going!
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Varun Says:
October 10th, 2009 at 11:03 amI grew up eating food cooked in solar Now I can’t wait to see our home powered by solar cells..
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Varun Says:
October 10th, 2009 at 11:03 amI grew up eating food cooked in solar cooker. Now I can’t wait to see our home powered by solar cells..
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Jaime Soto Figueroa Says:
October 27th, 2009 at 3:43 pmPlease tell me the following parameters on your Sun Simba HCPV based on the square LSO:
If the Sun power arriving a surface normal to the Sun rays varies from 0 up to 1400[W/m^2], and the panel has a surface of 1[m^2], and is at normal angle to the Sun:
What is the electrical model of this panel, say a Thevenin or Norton model, or a non linear model, in function of the Sun Power, please tell me if you have this model equations?
I guess the model is like a Thevenin supply, with:
R = Series resistance
D = Parallel diode with cathode at +V, that can be modelled in MicroCap 9 or Spice.
C = Parasitic capacitance in parallel
L = Parasitic inductance L in seriesI guess all these parameters vary in function of the Sun Power in [Watts/m^2], may be in non linear form, and should have a manufacturing tolerance or dispersion at each Sun power level.
Thank you
Jaime