SOLAR CELL PANEL ASSEMBLY FOR DRIVING A MOTOR-DRIVEN SCREEN APPARATUS

Abstract: The known solar cell panel assembly for driving a motor-driven screen apparatus provided movably between an indoor side glass plate and an outdoor side glass plate as spaced therefrom in a double-glazed sliding door unit in the prior art, is improved so as to enhance a light-condensing efficiency and to thereby increase an output power of solar cells. the improvements reside in that a sheet of belt-like solar cell panel (3) has its bottom edge portion disposed via a plurality of mount members (5) so as to be held in contact with an indoor side lower portion of the outdoor side glass plate (1A), to extend in the horizontal direction along the indoor side lower portion of the outdoor side glass plate (1A), and to be inclined in such manner that its top end portion may retreat towards the indoor side. Preferably, the solar cell panel is provided with a glass panel mounted in tight contact with an outdoor side light receiving surface of the solar cell panel (3), and transparent resin (7) having a refractive index equivalent to that of glass is filled by potting in a wedge-shaped space formed between the glass panel and the indoor side surface of the outdoor side glass plate. Also, preferably a reflector plate (8) of inverse-L shape in cross-section having its upper surface formed as a reflecting surface, is disposed so as to project towards the outdoor side lower portion of the outdoor side glass plate (1A) and extend along the outdoor side lower portion of the same glass plate.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to a solar cell panel assembly for driving a motor-driven screen apparatus such as, for instance, a motor-driven blind built within a double-glazed sliding door unit. 2. Description of the Prior Art: With regard to a motor-operated blind powered by solar cells, various proposals have been made (for instance, see Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open Specification No. 60-31499), and in recent years, a screen apparatus in which a motor-driven blind 2 and a solar cell panel 3 are disposed within a double-glazed sliding door unit 1 as shown in Fig. 1, has been developed. In such a construction, heretofore, the solar cell panel 3 was mounted vertically along the indoor side surface of a bottom portion of an outdoor side glass plate 1A as shown in Fig. 2. However, with such method of mounting the solar cell panel 3, there exists a problem that in summer when an altitude of the sun is high, at the location where the solar cell panel 3 is directed to the south, an incident angle of the sunlight is large, hence due to increase of a reflected amount and decrease of a light receiving area perpendicular to the sunlight, the solar cell panel 3 cannot receive a sufficient amount of sunlight, and so, the output power of the solar cells is reduced. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been worked out in order to resolve the aforementioned problem, and it is one object of the present invention to provide a solar cell panel assembly for driving a motor-driven screen apparatus, which can improve a light condensing efficiency with a relatively simple construction and thereby can achieve enhancement of an output power of solar cells. The solar cell panel assembly as claimed for driving a motor-driven screen apparatus includes a sheet of strip-like solar cell panel having its bottom edge portion disposed via a plurality of mount members so as to be held in contact with an indoor side lower portion of an outdoor side glass plate of a double-glazed sliding door unit having an outdoor side glass plate, an indoor side glass plate and a motor-driven screen apparatus provided movably between the above-mentioned glass plates as spaced therefrom and extending in the horizontal direction along the indoor side lower portion of the aforementioned outdoor side glass plate. According to the present invention, said solar cell panel is disposed as inclined in such manner that its top end portion may retreat towards the indoor side. This solar cell panel is provided with a glass panel mounted in tight contact with the outdoor side light receiving surface of the solar cell pannel, and transparent resin having a refractive index equivalent to that of glass is filled by potting in a wedge-shaped space formed between the above-mentioned glass panel and the indoor side surface of the aforementioned outdoor side glass plate. Furthermore, the assembly includes one reflector plate of inverse-L shape in cross-section having its upper surface formed as a reflecting surface, which is disposed so as to project towards the outdoor side from the outdoor side lower portion of the above-described outdoor side glass plate and extend along the outdoor side lower portion of the same glass plate. Thus, according to the present invention, owing to the fact that the solar cell panel is disposed at an inclined attitude, an incident angle of the sunlight as measured from the normal of the plane of the solar cell panel becomes small as compared to that of the assembly in the prior art, hence an reflected amount of the sunlight is reduced, also the area of the light receiving surface of the solar cell panel perpendicular to the sunlight increases, and so, a light condensing efficiency is improved as composed to the assembly in the prior art, resulting in enhancement of the output power of the solar cells. In addition, according to the present invention, by virtue of potting of transparent resin in the wedge-shaped space between the solar cell panel and the outdoor side glass plate, a reflected loss of the sunlight is reduced, furthermore thanks to the provisions of the reflector plate the sunlight that cannot be directly condenced onto the solar cell panel can be condenced, and thereby a light condensing efficiency and an output power of the solar cells can be improved. The above-mentioned and other advantages, aspects and objects of the present invention will become obvious, by those skilled in the prior art from the following description of one preferred embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view partly cut away showing a double-glazed sliding door unit containing a motor-driven blind therein in the prior art; Fig. 2 is a schematic vertical cross-section view showing an essential part of a mount structure of a solarcell panel in the prior art; Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section view showing an essential part of one preferred embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a reflected loss of the sunlight in the case where transparent resin is not potted in the wedge-shaped space between the outdoor side glass plate and the solar cell panel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the following, the present invention will be described in greater detail in connection to the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 3 shows one preferred embodiment, in which a motor-driven blind 2 is disposed within a double-glazed sliding door unit 1 having an outdoor side glass plate 1A and an indoor side glass plate 1B as spaced from each other, and in the illustrated arrangement, a solar cell panel 3 to be disposed at the lower portion on the indoor side of the outdoor side glass plate 1A is mounted as inclined by an inclination angle ϑ so that its lower edge portion may be positioned on a gasket 4 and its upper edge portion may be positioned as retreated to the indoor side. The mounting of the solar cell panel 3 is effected by fixedly securing obliquely bent mount metals to the solar cell panel 3 at intervals in the lengthwise direction of the panel, and inserting the base portions of the mount metals 5 between an inner side surface of a groove of a gasket 4 and the indoor side surface of the outdoor side glass plate 1A. Furthermore, because of the fact that if an air layer exists between the solar cell panel 3 and the outdoor side glass plate 1A, then a reflecting loss of light is large at the boundary surface between the air layer and the glass plate or the solar cell panel as shown in Fig. 4, a glass panel 6 is fixedly secured to a light receiving surface of the solar cell panel 3, and transparent resin 7 having a refractory index equivalent to that of glass (1.4-1.5) is filled by potting between this glass panel 6 and the outdoor side glass plate 1A as shown in Fig. 3. It is to be noted that the top surface of the transparent resin 7 has a slope rising towards the outdoor side. Owing to such a potting process, on the light receiving side of the solar cell panel 3 is not present an air layer, but is formed a substantially uniform layer which is optically equivalent to an integral wedge-shaped glass layer, hence a reflecting loss of light is reduced, and a light condensing efficiency can be further improved. In addition, on a gasket 4 on the outdoor side of the outdoor side glass plate 1A is disposed a reflector plate 8 of rust-proof material having a high reflectivity so that even directly uncollectable light can be collected by reflection. This reflector plate 8 has an inverse-L shape in cross-section, and its base portion is fixedly secured by being inserted between an inner side surface of the gasket 4 and the outdoor side glass plate 1A. It is to be noted that while the inclination angle ϑ should be, ideally, as large as about 60° within the territory of Japan, in order to avoid the solar cell panel 3 from striking against the motor-operated blind 2, the inclination angle ϑ is chosen to be 5-10°. Also, it is a matter of course that if the arrangement is such that the motor-operated blind 2 would stop at a position above the solar cell panel 3, the inclination angle could be made larger than the above-specified range. In the above-described construction, since the solar cell panel 3 is mounted with the inclination angle ϑ, an incident angle of the sunlight becomes smaller than that in the prior art, hence a reflected amount of light is reduced and a light receiving area perpendicular to the sunlight rays is increased. Therefore, a light condensing efficiency is improved as compared to the arrangement in the prior art. For instance, in the case where the inclination angle was chosen to be 10°, it was confirmed that an improvement in an output power of solar cells by 20 to 30% could be achieved in summer. Furthermore, by potting the transparent resin 7, a reflecting loss of the sunlight is reduced, also by the provision of the reflecting plate 8, directly uncollectable light can be collected, and thereby a light condensing efficiency and an output power can be enhanced. While the present invention has been described above in connection to a motor-driven blind, it is a matter of course that the present invention should not be limited to such application but it can be applied equally to general motor-driven screen apparatuses such as a motor-driven curtain, a motor-driven louver, etc.

Claims: 1. A solar cell panel assembly for driving a motor-driven screen apparatus comprising a sheet of strip-like solar cell panel (3) having its bottom edge portion disposed via a plurality of mount members (5) so as to be held in contact with an indoor side lower portion of an outdoor side glass plate of a double-glazed sliding door unit (1) having one outdoor side glass plate (1A), an indoor side glass plate 1B and an motor-driven screen apparatus (2) provided movably between said glass plates as spaced therefrom, and extending in the horizontal direction along the indoor side lower portion of said outdoor side glass plate, characterized in that said solar cell panel (3) is disposed as inclined in such manner that its top end portion may retreat towards the indoor side and in that said solar cell panel is provided with a glass panel mounted in tight contact with an outdoor side light receiving surface of the solar cell panel, and transparent resin (7) having a refractive index equivalent to that of glass is filled by potting in a wedge-shaped space formed between said glass panel and the indoor side surface of said outdoor side glass plate. 2. A solar cell panel assembly for driving a motor-driven screen apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that said assembly further comprises a reflector plate (8) of inverse-L shape in cross-section having its upper surface formed as a reflecting surface, which is disposed so as to project towards the outdoor side from the outdoor side lower portion of said outdoor side glass plate (1A) and extend along the outdoor side lower portion of the same glass plate.

Inventors: HIRAKI, YOSHIHARU
Applicants: YOSHIDA KOGYO K.K.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: E06B9
IPC codes: E06B9