Instead of converting solar light into electrical power for immediate use, Texas A&M's Christi Madsen envisions remoting light energy to another location optically by concentrating solar light.
If you have witnessed the rainbow pattern that dances on the surface of a CD or DVD, then you have seen diffraction at work. The disk acts as a diffraction grating, an optical element that disperses light into various colors or wavelengths.
This division of light can occur on any periodic, or rippled, surface. The direction of these divided light beams, and subsequent scattering of light, can be estimated through a commonly used set of equations called the nonparaxial scalar diffraction theory. Christi Madsen, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, is testing the limits of this fundamental theory so that a more accurate understanding of scattering losses can be achieved.
Madsen is working to improve the systems that generate solar power through the use of concentrating mirrors or lenses by getting the light more efficiently to the converter — whether photovoltaic, which converts sunlight into electricity, or thermal, which converts heat to electricity — and reducing the overall system loss.
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