A collapsible reflector includes a plurality of reflective blades which are rotatably arranged around a common axis. Each blade has a leading edge and a trailing edge. The blades are substantially flat and stacked above one another between a top blade and a bottom blade when the reflector is in a retracted position. The blades rotate and elastically bend to form an approximately dish-shaped arrangement when in an extended position. The leading edge of each blade is arranged below the trailing edge of the adjacent blade when the reflector is in the extended position. This includes the leading edge of the top blade, which is below the trailing edge of the bottom blade when the reflector is in the extended position. One blade may be fixedly connected to a central hub, enabling quick setup and disassembly of the reflector.

To overcome shortcomings of the conventional thermal receiver, embodiments of the technology disclosed herein are directed towards an improved thermal receiver. More particularly, the various embodiments of the technology disclosed herein relate to thermal receivers without a vacuum insulation, otherwise known as an approximation of a blackbody. Various embodiments of the technology disclosed herein enable greater absorption of sunlight collected by a parabolic solar trough concentrator compared with conventional thermal receivers.

The disclosure generally relates to concentrating daylight collectors and in particular to a light concentrator alignment system that can detect and correct for misalignment of the solar concentrator. The present disclosure generally relates to concentrating daylight collectors that can be used for illuminating interior spaces of a building with sunlight, and in particular to a light concentrator alignment system that can detect and correct for misalignment of the solar concentrator.

A novel portable solar energy system includes a solar concentrator, a thermal storage device, an azimuth adjustment system, an elevation system, and a heat exchanger, all mounted on a rotatable support frame. In a particular embodiment, the thermal storage device remains at a fixed vertical height and fixed tilt orientation when adjustments are made to the azimuth adjustment system and/or the elevation adjustment system.

A solar thermal collector using one-piece parabolic frame having a one-piece reflector or thin mirror film provided on the top portion of the one-piece parabolic frame, a heat collection element tube where heat transfer fluid is to be provided and a solar tracking system that provides precise focus of the parabola to the sun optimizing the heat transfer from the heat collection element tube (HCE) to the heat transfer fluid (HTF).

A mirror (31) that reflects solar light, a rear plate (35) that supports a rear surface of the mirror (31), and a support frame (36) that is disposed on a rear surface of the rear plate (35) are prepared. Next, the rear plate (35) and the support frame (36) are joined to each other. Moreover, an adhesive agent is disposed between the mirror (31) and the rear plate (35), the mirror (31), the rear plate (35), and the support frame (36) are elastically deformed so that a reflecting surface of the mirror (31) forms a target three-dimensional curved surface, using a lower mold (51) and an upper mold (52), and the elastically deformed state is maintained until the adhesive agent is cured.

The invention relates to an apparatus for concentrating cosmic radiation originating from a celestial object, said apparatus comprising: a concentrating optical surface able to reflect incident cosmic radiation toward a target surface OXY, and liable to contain local surface errors and aiming and orientation errors; a system for inspecting the reflective optical surface; means for acquiring images of the optical surface from various viewpoints M.sub.mn (X.sub.mn, y.sub.mn) that are located on the target surface, m varying from 1 to M and n varying from 1 to N, so as to obtain MN images of the optical surface illuminated by the cosmic radiation, with M viewpoints along X and N viewpoints along Y, where M>1, N>1 and M.Math.N30; and a unit for processing the M.Math.N acquired images, which unit is suitable for: calculating the slopes (P)/x and (P)/y for each point P(x,y) of the reflective optical surface, where:

[00001]$\frac{\left(P\right)}{x}=g_X.Math..Math.{\mathrm{.Math.}}_0.Math.\frac{\underset{m=1}{\overset{M}{.Math.}}.Math.\underset{n=1}{\overset{N}{.Math.}}.Math.\mathrm{sign}\left(x_{\mathrm{mn}}^{}\right).Math..Math.L\left(M_{\mathrm{mn}}^{},P\right)}{\underset{m=1}{\overset{M}{.Math.}}.Math.\underset{n=1}{\overset{N}{.Math.}}.Math.L\left(M_{\mathrm{mn}}^{},P\right)},.Math.\mathrm{and}$

A solar concentrator assembly includes a tripod, a base, a reflective dish, a receptacle, and a thermoelectric module or a heat transfer module. The tripod includes legs and a top tripod connector coupled to top portions thereof. The base includes a rod coupled to the tripod; a bottom support structure coupled to the rod; a top support structure coupled to the bottom support structure; an extension coupled to the bottom support structure and the top support structure; and a cap with recesses mounted to the top support structure. The reflective dish includes support rods received within the recesses; a pliable material forms panels, wherein the support rods are inserted into seams between the panels; and a reflective material disposed on the pliable material. The receptacle is connected to the base and disposed within the reflective dish. The thermoelectric module or the heat transfer module is partially disposed within the receptacle.

In one embodiment, a solar heat collecting system includes a heat collector configured to heat a heat medium by a sunray. The system further includes a heater configured to heat a heating target fluid by the heat medium. The system further includes a heat medium pipe configured to circulate the heat medium between the heat collector and the heater. The system further includes a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the heat medium flowing from the heat collector toward the heater, at a position located upstream of an initial bent portion of the heat medium pipe in a region where the heat medium pipe extends from the heat collector toward the heater. The system further includes a controller configured to control heating of the heat medium in accordance with the temperature of the heat medium measured by the temperature sensor.

The invention relates to a support device for a curved mirror having support elements and a curved mirror. The objective of providing a support device for a curved mirror which is constructed in a particularly simple manner and which enables particularly low production costs is achieved by a support device in that the support device has at least one bent metal carrier profile-member, the bent carrier profile-member having in the longitudinal direction an at least similar curvature to the curved mirror and being substantially mirror-symmetrical in the longitudinal direction.