Disclosed is an optomechanical system (10) for capturing and transmitting incident light (40) with a variable direction of incidence to at least one collecting element (31, 31′, 31″, 31″′, 31A, 31B), with an optical arrangement (20) able to capture a beam of the incident light (40), concentrate the captured beam of the incident light, and transmit one or more concentrated beams (50) of the incident light to the at least one collecting element (31, 31′, 31″, 31″′, 31A, 31B), and a shifting mechanism for moving the optical arrangement (20) with respect to the at least one collecting element (31, 31′, 31″, 31′″, 31A, 31B), wherein the moving of the shifting mechanism is controllable in such a way that, for any direction of incidence of the incident light (40), the one or more concentrated beams (50) of the incident light can be optimally collected by the at least one collecting element (31, 31′, 31″, 31′″, 31A, 31B), In this optomechanical system (10), the optical arrangement (20) comprises a first optical layer made of optical lenses having an aspheric curvature, and at least one surface of the lenses has a polynomial curvature with multiple orders. Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a corresponding method for capturing and transmitting incident light with a variable direction of incidence to at least one collecting element.

Semiconductor devices comprising a semiconductor edge filter, a first light absorbing region overlying the semiconductor edge filter and a second light absorbing region underlying the semiconductor edge filter are disclosed. The semiconductor edge filter has a high reflectivity over a first wavelength range absorbed by the overlying light absorbing region and a high transmission over a second wavelength range absorbed by the underlying light absorbing region.

Embodiments of the invention generally relates to photovoltaic, thermophotovoltaic, and laser power beaming devices which convert solar light, thermal radiation, or laser radiation into electric power. Said devices have a reflective interference “greenhouse” filter placed in front of a semiconductor cell and a reflective mirror on the back of the cell. The front filter is transparent for high energy (short wavelength) photons, but traps low energy (long wavelength) photons emitted by photocarriers accumulated near the semiconductor bandgap. In the optimized PV device, the chemical potential of photoelectrons near semiconductor bandgap exceeds the chemical potential of photoelectrons above the photonic bandgap established by the filter (i.e., the device is in chemical nonequilibrium). The greenhouse filter reduces the emission losses, decreases the semiconductor cell thickness, and provides PV conversion with reduced nonradiative losses. Said device converts radiative energy into electricity in a more efficient way than conventional cells.

A solar module having on the front a cover plate with an outer surface and an inner surface is described. The outer surface has a patterned region, on which an optical interference layer for reflecting light within a predefined wavelength range is arranged. The patterned region has a height profile with hills and valleys, and a portion of the patterned region is composed of flat segments that are inclined relative to a plane of the cover plate.

A solar module having on the front a cover plate with an outer surface and an inner surface is described. An optical interference layer for reflecting light within a predefined wavelength range is arranged on the inner surface. The inner surface and/or the outer surface have a patterned region. The patterned region has a height profile with hills and valleys, and a portion of the patterned region is composed of flat segments that are inclined relative to a plane of the cover plate.

According to one embodiment, a solar device, comprises one or more photovoltaic cells disposed in an encapsulant and a light control structure including a louver film having a series of louver structures, wherein each louver structure includes one or more groupings of a plurality magnetizable particles aligned at least in a first orientation dispersed in a binding matrix. The light control structure substantially transmits light incident at a first angle and substantially limits transmission of light incident at a second angle. Each louver structure is spaced apart from an adjacent louver structure, wherein each louver structure is substantially aligned in a plane substantially parallel to an adjacent louver structure.

According to one embodiment, a method of making an optical film for control of light comprising: positioning a first mixture on a substrate, wherein the first mixture comprises a first plurality of magnetizable particles dispersed in a first resin, assembling the first plurality of magnetizable particles into a desired structure for the control of the light by rotating modulation of at least a first magnetic field relative to the first plurality of magnetizable particles, and vitrifying the first resin while the first plurality of magnetizable particles are in the desired structure.

According to various embodiments, an electronic device comprises: a polymer including a plurality of quantum dots; at least one first solar cell disposed on a lower portion of the polymer; and at least one second solar cell disposed on a side portion of the polymer; and a battery configured to be charged with electrical energy from at least one of the first solar battery or the second solar battery, wherein: the first solar battery, in a first wavelength band, has a conversion efficiency greater than or equal to a threshold value; the second solar battery, in a second wavelength band different from the first wavelength band, has a conversion efficiency greater than or equal to the threshold value; and the wavelength of light that passes through the polymer may be within the first wavelength band, and the wavelength of light that is absorbed by at least some of the plurality of quantum dots and then remitted may be within the second wavelength bandwidth. Other various embodiments are possible.

The present disclosure provides a spectrally selective panel that comprises a first panel portion that is at least partially transmissive for light having a wavelength in the visible wavelength range. The panel also comprises a first reflective component that is arranged to reflect incident light within an infrared (IR) wavelength band and within an ultraviolet (UV) wavelength band while being at least partially transmissive for light having a wavelength within the visible wavelength band.

One embodiment can provide a solar roof tile. The solar roof tile can include a front cover, a back cover, one or more photovoltaic structures positioned between the front cover and the back cover, and an optical filter positioned between the front cover and the photovoltaic structures. The optical filter is configured to block light within a predetermined spectral range, thereby preventing the light from reflecting off surfaces of the photovoltaic structures to exit the solar roof tile.