Wireless Infrared Optical Power Beaming
Optical infrared (IR) power beaming requires a high temperature heat source that’s emitting infrared radiation. The emitted radiation is gathered, concentrated and collimated through a series of mirrors, infrared lenses and windows, and transmitted through the atmosphere or through a light pipe to a receiver station where the heat energy can be used, stored, or converted to a useful form of energy such as electricity. High temperature emitters or emissive surfaces release thermal radiation from the energy source. An open-air beam on route to the receiver station can be re-focused and redirected by mid-station mirrors and infrared lens optical assemblies, sometimes on a tower, or the beam can be focused into an internally reflective light pipe to a receiver unit. The energy sources can include power plants, wind turbines, solar collectors, boilers, furnaces, ovens, kilns, geothermal, nuclear and waste heat to name a few. Applications include residential and commercial building heating, food processors and industrial users of process heat, and transport of heat to and from a thermal battery.
Roadway Energy Harvesting
Pavement energy harvesting has moved from a far-fetched concept for clean energy 20 years ago to being recognized as a mainstream potential source of clean energy by the scientific and climate communities. Solar energy is the most promising clean energy source at this time. Enough solar radiation hits the earth in one day to power the entire world needs for an entire year. Pavement energy harvesting is a form of solar energy. With approximately 25,000 square miles of paved surfaces in the US alone including roads, parking lots and driveways. The potential for roadway energy harvesting is tremendous. Infrared Power Systems has won grants and built prototype test systems at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and had installed a larger demonstration system in a parking lot in Phoenix Arizona. The knowledge gained from those earlier tests has allowed for the newer, economically viable, design of the system IPS intends to produce.
Tandem Photovoltaic Module
The solar energy system combines a primary traditional solar photovoltaic (PV) cell, such as of silicon or germanium, with a secondary thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell located behind or near the primary cell in a “tandem” design where the incoming solar light is concentrated on to the PV cell and then the PV cell, heated by the concentrated sunlight, emits infrared (IR) radiation to the TPV cell. That is, the PV cell converts the visible spectrum and shorter wavelengths of light to electricity, while a TPV cell converts to electrons the infrared spectrum of light it receives as emission from the PV cell. Standard silicon based solar panels that are widely deployed have an efficiency of ~18%. We expect the combined PV/TPV module to achieve efficiencies of over 50%.
Germanium Sourcing & Recovery
IR Power Systems Plans to take a leadership position in sourcing and refining of Germanium and other specialty metals from on continent American resources such as recycling from Military IR optical systems; and sourcing from Coal ash and Zinc slag. Recent export bans of critical semiconductor materials by China have highlighted the urgency for the US to have its own sources for critical materials.