| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20090277056 | Large Format Microfluidic Digital Display - Microfluidic pixels are utilized to produce large format displays (billboards) that are both digitally controllable and are light weight. Each microfluidic pixel includes a wall having a front (display) surface, and a microfluidic system including a reservoir disposed behind the wall, a colorant fluid, a transparent display chamber disposed in front of the wall, a conduit, and a two-way pump. In the absence of colorant fluid in display chamber, the pixel has a background appearance determined by the color (e.g., white) of the front wall surface. The pump receives a digital control signal from a digital control circuit to transfer colorant fluid from the reservoir to the display chamber by way of the conduit, whereby the pixel's appearance changes to a “colored” appearance determined by the color and amount of the colorant fluid in the display chamber. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20110100418 | Solid Linear Solar Concentrator Optical System With Micro-Faceted Mirror Array - A concentrating solar collector includes a solid optical structure a flat front surface, and PV cells and a micro-faceted mirror array disposed on the opposing rear surface. The micro-faceted mirrors are arranged in a sawtooth arrangement to reflect sunlight toward the front surface at angles that produces total internal reflection (TIR) and redirection of the sunlight onto the PV cells. The micro-faceted mirror array reflects sunlight onto the PV cells in an extended focus region of concentrated light that has a substantially uniform or homogeneous irradiance distribution pattern. The optical structure is a solid dielectric sheet either processed to include micro-faceted surfaces with reflective material formed thereon, or having a dielectric film including the micro-faceted mirror array adhered thereon. In one embodiment, three PV cells and four micro-faceted mirror arrays are disposed in an interleaved pattern with two side mirrors are disposed on side edges of the optical structure. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110227200 | ALIGNMENT STRUCTURES FOR INTEGRATED-CIRCUIT PACKAGING - A multi-chip module (MCM) that includes alignment features is described. This MCM includes at least two substrates having facing surfaces with positive features disposed on them. Note that a given positive feature on either of the surfaces protrudes above the surface. Furthermore, the two substrates are mechanically coupled by these positive features. In particular, a given one of the positive features on one of the surfaces mates with a given subset of the positive features on the other of the surfaces. Additionally, the given subset of the positive features includes two or more of the positive features. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20120031396 | Luminescent Solar Concentrator With Distributed Outcoupling Structures And Microoptical Elements - A luminescent solar concentrator including a light-guiding slab containing a luminescent material that generates light emissions in response to received sunlight, spaced-apart outcoupling structures that provide a distributed outcoupling of the light emissions through predetermined locations on one of the “broadside” (e.g., upper or lower) surfaces of the light-guiding slab, and optical elements positioned to redirect the outcoupled light emissions such that the light emissions are concentrated onto a predetermined target (e.g., a PV cell). Each optical element includes a collimating surface portion and optional returner surface. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120031463 | Stationary Sunlight Redirecting System For Increasing The Efficiency Of Fixed-Tilt PV Farm - A low-cost system for increasing the electricity generation of flat panel photovoltaic (PV) farms in which sunlight redirecting elements are positioned in offset spaces provided between adjacent panel assemblies and serve to redirect otherwise unused sunlight onto solar cells disposed on one of the panel assemblies. The redirecting elements are located in a prismatic volume bounded at its upper end by an inclined upper plane that extends across the offset space separating adjacent PV panel assemblies. The redirecting elements are either mounted to at least one of the PV panel assemblies, or placed on the ground between the assemblies. Each redirecting element includes multiple reflecting and/or refracting surfaces that utilize a disclosed microoptical arrangement (e.g., focus and steer or reorient and scatter) to distribute the redirected sunlight in a substantially homogenous (uniform) distribution on the solar cells. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120031467 | Solar Energy Harvesting System Using Luminescent Solar Concentrator With Distributed Outcoupling Structures And Microoptical Elements - A solar energy harvesting system including a luminescent solar concentrator for generating light emissions in response to received sunlight, and for redirecting and concentrating the light emissions onto a predetermined target (e.g., a PV cell). The luminescent solar concentrator includes a light-guiding slab containing a luminescent material that generates the light emissions, spaced-apart outcoupling structures that provide a distributed outcoupling of the light emissions through predetermined locations on one of the “broadside” (e.g., upper or lower) surfaces of the light-guiding slab, and optical elements positioned to redirect the outcoupled light emissions such that the light emissions are concentrated onto the predetermined target. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120033301 | Stationary Sunlight Redirecting Element And System - A low-cost sunlight redirecting element including multiple substantially identical redirecting structures uniformly arranged and fixedly disposed on a base, where each redirecting structure includes multiple optical surface regions that are cooperatively formed and arranged such that, when the sunlight redirecting element is operably fixedly oriented relative to a stationary target with sunlight directed along an incident direction onto the redirecting structures, at least some of the sunlight is transmitted between the corresponding optical surface regions of each redirecting structure, and redirected from the corresponding optical surface regions toward the target's surface. The optical surface regions are shaped and arranged to redirect the sunlight toward the fixed target surface even when the sunlight's incident angle direction changes during the course of a year. A stationary sunlight redirecting system (e.g., an architectural daylighting arrangement or PV farm) includes the sunlight redirecting element maintained in a fixed relationship to the stationary target surface. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120132255 | Solar Energy Harvesting Device Using Stimuli-Responsive Material - A solar energy harvesting system including a sunlight concentrating member (e.g., a lens array) for focusing direct sunlight at predetermined focal points inside a waveguide containing a stimuli-responsive material (SRM) that is evenly distributed throughout the waveguide material such that the SRM assumes a relatively high transparency state away from the focused sunlight, and small light-scattering portions of the SRM change to a relatively opaque (light scattering) state only in focal zone regions adjacent to the concentrated sunlight. The outer waveguide surfaces are locally parallel (e.g., planar) and formed such that sunlight scattered by the light-scattering SRM portions is transmitted by total internal reflection through the remaining transparent waveguide material, and outcoupled to one or more solar energy receivers (e.g., PV cells) that are disposed outside the waveguide (e.g., along the peripheral edge). | 05-31-2012 |
