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Fiber-optic solar energy transmission and concentration

Article  in  Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells · July 1998

DOI: 10.1016/S0927-0248(98)00083-X

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 Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 54 (1998) 323—331

Fiber-optic solar energy transmission

and concentration
Dawei Liang!,*, L. Fraser Monteiro!, M. Ribau Teixeira!,
M.L. Fraser Monteiro", M. Collares-Pereira#
! Departamento de Fı& sica, F.C.T., Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2825, Monte de Caparica, Portugal
" Departamento de Fı& sica, C1, Universidade de Lisboa, 1700 Lisboa, Portugal
# Departamento de Fı& sica, I.S.T., Universidade Te& cnica de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1096 Lisboa, Portugal

Abstract

Fiber-optic solar energy transmission and concentration provide a flexible way of handling
concentrated solar energy. The high flux solar energy transmission by a flexible fiber-optic
bundle and the research on the associated compound parabolic concentrator will largely
expand the existing field of applications of solar energy concentrators. We report on a flexible
light guide which consists of 19 optical fibers and is capable of transmitting up to 60 W of
optical power, with 60% efficiency. A flexible fiber-optic solar energy transmission and
concentration scheme by using one single fiber, 2 and 7 fiber bundles is also reported. ( 1998
Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Fiber optics; Solar energy transmission; Solar energy concentration

1. Introduction

Solar energy has been made widely available for thermal applications and for direct
production of electricity. Many kinds of solar collectors have been developed to
operate from low to very high temperatures and many optical concentration systems
have been investigated with the aim of reducing the cost of electricity generated

* Corresponding author.

0927-0248/98/$19.00 ( 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PII S 0 9 2 7 - 0 2 4 8 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 0 8 3 - X
324 D. Liang et al./Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 54 (1998) 323—331

through photovoltaic conversion. The compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) can

achieve the maximum concentration limit defined by basic principles in optics and in
thermodynamics. In combination with a high-quality first-stage focusing concentra-
tor, the high-energy flux generated from a second-stage concentrator of the CPC type
is powerful enough to pump a solid state solar laser [1]. The idea of directly
converting broad-band solar radiation into coherent narrow-band laser radiation is
almost as old as the laser itself. If lasers are needed in remote locations where sunlight
is abundant and the other forms of energy are scarce, a solar laser would seem to be
a natural choice. New potential applications of solar lasers in space are emerging.
These include space power transmission and propulsion, earth, ocean and atmo-
spheric sensing from space, detecting, illuminating and tracking hard targets in space
and deep space communications [1].
A solar-pumped laser requires a first-stage concentrating solar collector that
tracks the sun. The laser head and its associated optics are usually placed near or
at the focus of the collector. It will be more convenient if the concentrated solar
energy can be transmitted to a desirable place, where it could be used both to pump
a laser crystal or to carry out many other useful mechanical, chemical or thermal
processings.
The idea of concentrated solar energy transport by optical fibers was put forward in
1980 by a group of French investigators [2]. Owing to the unavailability of high-
quality optical fibers and the high cost of their design, this project limited itself to
theoretical analysis only. With the present day availability of fiber-optic techniques,
solar energy can be transmitted by high-quality optical fibers of large core diameter
and large numerical aperture. With flexible fiber optic solar energy transmission and
concentration, a solar laser or any other light powered tool will be able to be moved
out of its actual pumping position in the focusing area of the primary parabolic mirror
and will find new applications.

2. The preparation of the fiber-optic light guide

A flexible fiber-optic light guide of 7 mm diameter and 3 m length has been

built. This guide consists of 19 optical fibers. The input section of each 1.5 mm
diameter optical fiber is polished to form a hexagonal column, as shown in
Fig. 1b. When the input columns of these polished fibers are joined together, a
compact fiber-optic bundle is obtained, leaving no dead space between the optical
fibers and hence the concentrated solar energy is transmitted without extra loss.
Fig. 1a shows the three-dimensional design of the input end of the fiber-optic light
guide. The optical fibers on the outside bundle layer are only polished on 4 or on
3 sides.
The polishing of the hexagonal input ends of optical fibers is a delicate job. The 19
optical fibers are carefully polished at both the input and the output ends. After the
end polishing, each individual fiber is mounted on a mechanical head that can rotate
the optical fiber in every 60°, in six steps. No mechanical clamping methods were used
in order to avoid fiber damage. Only hand pressure is applied onto the optical fiber
 D. Liang et al. /Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 54 (1998) 323—331 325

Fig. 1. (a) The 3-D design of the input part of the 19 optical fiber light guide. (b) The dimensions of
a polished hexagonal input column.

and the width of the polished area is frequently checked by a measuring microscope.
When the width of the polished area reaches a half of the whole fiber diameter, one
side polishing is ended. The fiber is then turned 60° to begin the second side polishing.
This process is repeated until all six sides of the optical fiber are polished. The
polishing process is subdivided into three steps. Firstly, the optical fiber is ground by
326 D. Liang et al./Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 54 (1998) 323—331

fine grinding paper. Secondly, this side is polished with 1lm diamond polishing
paste and finally a mirror surface is obtained through final polishing with suspension
liquid.
The successful polishing of each input side of an optical fiber is essential to ensure
the high transmission capacity of the whole optical light guide. Our experiments
revealed a big difference in the transmission efficiency, varying between 30% (with
poorly polished sides) to more than 60% (with well polished sides). A poorly polished
side will scatter solar energy of higher-order modes inside the fiber and hence
drastically reduce transmission efficiency.

3. Experimental solar energy transmission system

To test fiber optic transmission and concentration of sunlight, a 40.6 cm dia-

meter telescope mirror ( f"4.5) was used. This primary mirror was mounted on an
equatorial mount which continually tracks the Sun. The primary parabolic telescope
mirror is coated with protected aluminum,with more than 90% average reflectivity
in the visible wavelength range. Considering an incident intensity of 800 W/m2 ,
the primary mirror captures about 100 W solar power and concentrates it into
a 15 mm diameter light spot 1.83 m away from the mirror. An aspheric lens further
concentrates this light spot to a 6 mm diameter light spot at the input end of 7 mm
diameter and 3 m length optical fiber light guide. We also used forced air cool-
ing to maintain this lens-fiber coupling device working at low temperature. Optical
power of 60 W was measured at the output end of the fiber light guide, with 60%
efficiency.
A secondary mirror can also be used before the focusing spot of the primary mirror
to reflect the incident light to a convenient position, in which case the length of the
optical fiber guide can be reduced, as shown in Fig. 2. The secondary mirror reflection
and its shading effect will, however, introduce about 10% energy loss. For an efficient

Fig. 2. Experimental solar energy transmission system.

 D. Liang et al. /Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 54 (1998) 323—331 327

solar pumping, we plan to use a front surface silver coated mirror to boost the
secondary solar energy output.
The solar radiation spectrum begins at about 300 nm and ends at 2400 nm, with the
highest intensity concentrated in the near UV and visible region. The optical fiber
used to build this light guide is the anhydroguide PCS low OH Vis-IR fiber. It is a cost
effective alternative to fused silica clad fibers. It has a broad operating wavelength
range from 400 to 2400 nm. This fiber has a high numerical aperture of NA"0.4,
which allows an efficient collection of solar energy.
The fiber optic light guide will not be efficient in transmitting the UV solar
radiation, which is advantageous for future fiber-optic solar laser pumping, because
UV solar radiation would cause undesirable heating of the laser crystal.

4. Experiment on fiber optic solar energy concentration

The solar energy concentration techniques of nonimaging optics have permitted the
production of the highest reported intensity (72 W/mm2) of sunlight concentration by
using a sapphire concentrator [3]. Such an intensity exceeds the intensity of light at
the surface of the Sun itself and may have useful applications in pumping lasers.
Cooke reported the production of high intensity sunlight concentration and its
application in generating over 3 W of laser power from a 72.5 cm diameter telescope
mirror with a fused silica CPC concentrator [4]. The utilization of a sapphire
nonimaging concentrator to pump the laser was unsuccessful, owing to the lack of
a suitable optical couplant with an index of refraction of 1.8.
Present day solar lasers can only operate in outdoor environments within the
focusing area of the primary parabolic mirror, which is inconvenient, both for the
operation and heat insulation. With the flexible fiber optic bundle, we could pump
a solar laser inside the laboratory with the incoming energy being continuously
tracked outside, e.g. on the roof. The great benefits from this new flexible light guide
are obvious.
With the aim of obtaining the highest solar flux with a minimum number of
optical fibers, Experiments using a single fiber, 2 and 7 fiber bundles for solar
energy transmission and concentration were carried out, as shown in Fig. 3. A
primary parabolic mirror of 1.8 m diameter and f"0.5 was used, with 85% re-
flectivity. Apertures of various sizes were manufactured in order to limit its input
power.
The distribution of the light intensity at the focusing point of the primary mirror
was measured, which gave a near Gaussian-type light distribution with the highest
solar flux of about 8 W/mm2.
Solar energy transmission with a 2 mm diameter flexible fiber was tested. The
maximum output solar energy at the output end was 18 W, giving a solar flux of
5.7 W/mm2. The use of two 2 mm diameter optical fibers resulted in a total output of
31 W, equivalent to a solar flux of 4.93 W/mm2.
To increase the maximum total output power, a flexible optical fiber bundle of
seven 2 mm diameter optical fibers was used. The input end of the bundle is shown in
328 D. Liang et al./Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 54 (1998) 323—331

Fig. 3. The experimental set up for flexible fiber-optic solar energy transmission and concentration with
one single fiber, 2 and 7 fiber bundles.

Fig. 4a. With this bundle, an output power of 80 W was obtained, corresponding to
a solar flux of 3.64 W/mm2.
The output numerical aperture of the above-mentioned fibers was measured to be
0.4, which means that further concentration of solar flux can be done. The dielectric
totally internally reflecting concentrator (DTIRC) gives an accurate idea of what
could be done to achieve a higher concentration [5]. This paper also indicated the
possibility of a straight side DTIRC because it is easier to produce. We have produced
a conically tapered concentrator at the output end of optical fibers and an increase of
solar energy flux was measured. According to the theory of nonimaging optics [4], we
have the following equation:

NA D "n NA D ,
1 1 2 2 2
 D. Liang et al. /Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 54 (1998) 323—331 329

Fig. 4. (a) The input end of a 7-fiber bundle polished with hexagonal columns. (b) The output end of
a single fiber-optic concentrator.

where NA and NA are the input and output numerical apertures, D and D are the
1 2 1 2
input and output fiber diameters and n "1.46 is the index of refraction of the optical
2
fiber.
For maximum concentration, NA "1. For NA "0.4, D "2 mm, n "1.46, we
2 1 1 2
can calculate the output fiber diameter to be 0.55 mm in theory. Considering the
practical case of a tapered conical concentrator, the output diameter of 0.6 mm was
330 D. Liang et al./Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 54 (1998) 323—331

used. In order to keep the above equation valid, an optical couplant of refractive index
1.46 should be introduced between the output end of the optical fiber and the laser
crystal [4].
A truncated conical concentrator, as shown in Fig. 4b, was manufactured by
carefully polishing the output section of an optical fiber with the final result examined
by a measuring microscope. For solar energy concentration, this concentrator was
coupled to the output end of an optical fiber. It was observed that, as expected, no
light was lost through the side walls. However, no flux measurement was taken at the
output end given the very wide angular distributions of the exiting light. The result
leads us to expect that if before concentration, we have a 2 mm diameter optical fiber
emitting the output power of 18 W at NA "0.4, then, after concentration, we will
1
have a 0.6 mm exit diameter emitting the same optical power without loss at NA "1
2
(90° output semi-angle). The solar flux at the output end can then be calculated to be
64 W/mm2, which is higher than the light intensity of 63 W/mm2 at the surface of the
Sun [6].
For the two and seven fiber bundle with concentration, we can still get the strong
solar fluxes of 55 and 40 W/mm2, respectively, both of which are still higher than the
threshold lasing power (10 W/mm2) of the solar laser crystal, hence making the
solar-pumped laser operational.

5. Conclusion

Experimental results of flexible fiber optic solar energy transmission of 60 W, by

using a 19-fiber bundle, are reported. The flexible fiber-optic solar energy transmis-
sion and concentration experiments, with 1 fiber, 2 and 7 fiber bundles, also reached
the results similar to the flux obtained with other types of concentrators. The
concentrated solar flux obtained is strong enough to pump a solar laser. Work is in
progress to improve the power handling capacity and the transmission efficiency of
the whole system so as to pump a small solar laser crystal located at a convenient
place outside the focusing area of the primary parabolic mirror.

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by Junta Nacional de Investigac7 a8 o Cientifica e Tec-

nológica of the Portuguese Ministry of Science and Technology. We also thank
our 5th year students, Yuri Nunes and Ricardo Fonseca for their help in this
research.

References

[1] M. Weksler, J. Shwartz, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 24 (6) (1988).

[2] J.M. Cariou, L. Martin, J. Dugas, Advances in Ceramics, vol. 2, Physics of Fiber Optics, pp. 557—563.
 D. Liang et al. /Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 54 (1998) 323—331 331

[3] P. Gleckman, J. O’Gallagher, R. Winston, Nature 339 (1989) 198.

[4] D. Cooke, Appl. Opt. 31 (36) (1992) 7541.
[5] X. Ning, R. Winston, J. O’Gallagher, Appl. Opt. 26 (2) (1987) 300.
[6] D. Cooke, P. Gleckman, H. Krebs, J. O’Gallagher, D. Sagie, R. Winston, Nature 346 (1990)
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