Land-based solar panel systems (installations) have the advantage that they may be mounted at or rotated to the most advantageous orientations using ground anchoring. For floating systems, positional stability may use some kind of anchoring or tethering, but this makes it more complicated to provide stable and reproducible facilities to change rotation and/or tilt to track the sun position. A light-energy converter is provided with one or more adaptive floats (540, 550, 560), providing a degree of buoyancy in water to support the one or more light-energy conversion devices (200). Each adaptive float (540, 550, 560) comprises: internally a first ballast volume (810) and a second (820) ballast volume for containing a corresponding first and second mass of fluid; one or more fluid pumps for displacing fluid; a sun-tracker, for operating the one or more fluid pumps (830) to select, in use, a predetermined and/or controlled sun orientation rotation angle; the first (810) and second (820) ballast volumes being associated with a first and second section of the external wall of the adaptive float (540, 550) which has a corresponding first and second arc-shaped cross-section; wherein the first mass and/or second mass of fluid may be modified, in use, to cause a rotation of the one or more light-energy conversion devices (200) about the first axis (310). By providing at least one adaptive float, with at least two internal ballast volumes with a mass of fluid, a compact and less expensive device is provided that is rotatable to a predetermined and/or controlled sun orientation rotation angle. In particular, east-west movement may be tracked. In addition, the converter may operate using relatively low power fluid pumps (or even low current pumps), allowing operation using the energy generated by the light-energy converter itself.


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    Title :

    A LIGHT-ENERGY CONVERTER FOR FLOATING ON WATER


    Additional title:

    CONVERTISSEUR LUMIERE-ENERGIE DESTINE A FLOTTER SUR L`EAU


    Publication date :

    2021-03-20


    Type of media :

    Patent


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English


    Classification :

    IPC:    B63B Schiffe oder sonstige Wasserfahrzeuge , SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS / H02S GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRA-RED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, E.G. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES , Erzeugung elektrischer Energie durch Umwandlung von Infrarot-Strahlung, sichtbarem Licht oder ultraviolettem Licht, z.B. unter Verwendung von Photovoltaik [PV]-Modulen / F24S Sonnenkollektoren , SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS



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