A solar receiver and associated components, systems and methods for use with a concentrated solar power plant. The solar receiver including a heat-absorbing solid body, an optical arrangement configured to direct light on to the heat-absorbing solid body, and a heat exchanger cowl proximate the heat-absorbing solid body arranged to provide a flow of working fluid over the rotor. In use, the light from the optical arrangement heats the heat-absorbing solid body which in turn heats the working fluid proximate the heat-absorbing solid body. The heat-absorbing solid body is movable relative to the optical arrangement from a first position to a second position such that the heat-absorbing solid body does not overheat.

A hybrid lighting system is disclosed in which light emitting diodes (LEDs) provide input light when illumination with solar light is unavailable. Light from LEDs are propagated through an optical fiber, which delivers the light to a point of illumination. The disclosed system reduces the amount of electricity and electric conduit for light in areas using hybrid lighting systems.

A light-concentrating lens assembly for a solar energy system, the assembly comprising a plurality of concentrically arranged paraboloid mirror reflectors, a conical light guide extending below the plurality of paraboloid mirror reflectors, an inner central cone disposed along a central axis of the concentrically arranged paraboloid mirror reflectors, and a compound paraboloid concentrator disposed beneath the inner central cone.

Disclosed are systems and methods for manufacturing energy relays for energy directing systems. Methods and devices are disclosed for forming random and non-random patterns of energy relay materials with energy localization properties. Methods and devices are disclosed for forming energy relays of different shapes.

Holographic concentration solar modules (1), which concentrate the solar light into photovoltaic solar cells (2), integrated into urban and street elements (3), such as street lamps, bus stops, motorway toll booths, charging facilities, advertising sites, kiosks, amongst others, are disclosed. The holographic solar concentration modules (1) carry out passive tracking and the design thereof may be adapted to any surface. The efficient capturing of solar light in any position is guaranteed with the design versatility of the hologram included in the solar module (1). Therefore, in the present invention, in each one of the applications, a constructive element is substituted by a holographic solar concentration module (1). For example, it forms the support of a solar street lamp, the cover of a bus stop or of a toll booth, or the structure of an advertising site, amongst others. The solar module (1) constitutes in this way photovoltaic integration (BIPV) into urban and street elements. The urban and street element can be autonomous or connected to the network, in this last case, wherein it can form part of an intelligent network.

In one aspect the invention provides a heat transfer apparatus which includes a transmitter object which defines an external collection surface and an internal transmission surface. Also provided is a receiver object displaced from the transmitter object, the receiver object defining an internal receiving surface and an external heat delivery surface. A thermal conduit is provided which incorporates at least one side wall connected between the transmitter object and receiver object, this at least one side wall spanning the distance between the transmitter object and receiver object and enclosing a volume between the transmitter and receiver objects. This side wall or walls enclose the internal transmission surface of the transmitter object and the internal receiving surface of the receiver object. The transmitter object, receiver object and thermal conduit are configured to promote heat transfer predominantly towards the receiver object.

A device for temperature control for a motor vehicle, includes a diffractive optical element disposed on a surface of the motor vehicle, and a radiator. The diffractive optical element couples in incident radiation and conducts the coupled-in incident radiation away from an area of the motor vehicle to be cooled. The radiator includes an absorber to absorb the coupled-in incident radiation which is conducted to the absorber from the diffractive optical element. The radiator releases energy based on the coupled-in incident radiation absorbed by the absorber.

Various ways of creating polynomial interpolations in one, two and three dimensions using purely mechanical means are disclosed. Various arrangements of gears are disclosed that can constrain certain rotating elements to rotate equal to the average or difference of the rotation angles of other rotating elements. These arrangements are combined in various ways to create mechanical arrangements having a set of rotating elements that are constrained to be linear or polynomial functions in one or many dimensions. Various uses of mechanical polynomial interpolation are disclosed, including focusing rays of the sun onto a target.

A roof or wall comprising an insulating selective surface (1) for the use of transferring net heat energy into or out of an enclosure, such as a building. The insulating selective surface comprises at least one transparent cover (2) that comprises a chamber (9), and in the chamber is a moveable plate (4) comprising a plurality of surfaces (5, 6). At least one of the surfaces is a selective surface which can be moved to substantially face the sky, or moved to face away from the sky. The device insulates the enclosure from conductive losses, while using the sun to heat the enclosure, or the cold of deep space to cool the enclosure depending on how the plate is moved.

Disclosed are systems for directing energy according to holographic projection. Configurations of waveguide arrays are disclosed for improved efficiency and resolution of propagated energy through tessellation of shaped energy waveguides.