Patent ID: 7858875

Claim:
A high-efficiency solar energy skylight, comprising: a roof-mounted window having a glass portion and a frame, the window, the glass portion and the frame forming an enclosure that is disposed in a fixed position relative to a roof of a structure in which the roof-mounted window is located; a plurality of concentrator assemblies disposed in an array within the enclosure, each concentrator assembly of the plurality of concentrator assemblies comprising: a photovoltaic chip; an optics for concentrating a solar energy onto the photovoltaic chip; a base for supporting the optics and the photovoltaic chip, the base including a base plate for positioning the photovoltaic chip in the path of the concentrated solar energy from the optics; a bottom joint pivotally attached to a lower portion of the concentrator assembly; and an upper joint pivotally attached to an upper portion of the concentrator assembly; a two-axis tracking mechanism disposed within the enclosure, the tracking mechanism including a lead frame connected to the upper joint of each concentrator assembly of the plurality of concentrator assemblies and an axle connected to the bottom joint of each concentrator assembly of the plurality of concentrator assemblies, the tracking mechanism movable in a first direction and a second direction to provide an x-axis of rotation and a y-axis of rotation for each concentrator assembly among the array, the tracking mechanism functions to provide a concerted movement of each concentrator assembly of the plurality of concentrator assemblies in the array, the concerted movement of each concentrator assembly of the plurality of concentrator assemblies in the array configured to maximize the solar energy collected by moving the optics of each concentrator assembly of the plurality of concentrator assemblies in a range of up to 180° in the x-axis of rotation and at least 47° in the y-axis of rotation; and a heat extraction system to collect and convert an unused solar energy from heat into a useful energy, wherein the heat extraction system comprises a heat exchanger, a heat extraction line operably attached to the heat exchanger and a base plate of one of the concentrator assemblies, and a coolant in fluid communication with the base plate and the heat exchanger to transport heat from the base plate to the heat exchanger through the heat extraction line as the useful energy; wherein the solar energy skylight is sized and configured to allow part of incident light entering the skylight to be used for energy production and part of the incident light entering the skylight for illumination of an interior portion of the structure.