Towards doubling solar harvests using wide-angle, broad-band microfluidic beam steering arrays

This paper introduces Microfluidic Beam Steering (MBS), which is a new technique for electronically steering light having multiple octaves of bandwidth, any polarization state and incidence from any direction of the sky without significant restrictions due to physical area, optical loss and power handling capacity. It is based on optical elements comprising both transparent solids and electronically controllable fluids to control Total Internal Reflection (TIR), refraction and/or diffraction from micro-structured surfaces within a transparent solid. A TIR-based MBS is discussed in the context of solar energy and its potential to significantly increase annual energy harvests from solar arrays situated on fixed areas like roofs. The advantages and challenges associated with analog and digital MBS systems are discussed and early-stage MBS hardware is demonstrated. Finally, an analytic model of sun-tracking is provided to formally establish the potential for MBS to increase annual solar energy harvests by approximately 45% more than conventional 0-Degree Of Freedom (0-DOF) solar arrays, 62% more than 1-DOF arrays and 233% more than 2-DOF arrays, all at 20% atmospheric aerosol scattering.