This technology is a simple method for fabricating spectrally-selective, nanostructure-coated surfaces for solar thermal energy conversion.
Current solar absorbers used to capture solar radiation for conversion to thermal energy lose a significant amount of that energy via emitted radiation. To avoid thermal losses, solar absorbers must be designed to absorb specific wavelengths and operate at temperatures higher than 115C. Although some work has been done to manufacture absorbers that can withstand high temperature or even limit emissivity, there are no manufacturing methods to produce tunable, spectrally selective and efficient solar absorbers.
This manufacturing technique fabricates spectrally selective, nanostructured surfaces for solar thermal energy conversion. By dip-and-dry processing of a metal substrate with a salt solution of another metal, nanoparticles are deposited onto the substrate and result in spectral selectivity via the two metal layers. Further, the spectral properties of the surface treatment can be tuned specifically depending on parameters such as temperature, reaction time, and concentration of metals during the reaction.
This technique has yielded successful solar absorbers prototypes endowed with improved thermal properties.
Patent Pending
IR CU17224
Licensing Contact: Richard Nguyen