Thermoelectric Generation Using Water Lenses

A solar light concentrator composed of water and plastic transparent film has been designed. This flexible lens design can trace the solar movement through control of the tensile stress and amount of water, and concentrate the solar energy onto the thermoelectric (TE) module surface. An experimental water lens was constructed, and the concentrated intensity was monitored by a photodiode as a function of x-z position; For example, when 3.0 kg water was filled and tension of 69.0 N/m was applied to the transparent vinyl sheet, the concentration ratio was evaluated as the maximum of 28.0 at a depth of 657 mm from the water lens bottom surface. TE generation was tested to show the validity of the water lens. The surface condition of the receiver was found to be critical.