Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
(OP)
Assume a flat one square foot vertical plate attached 6 feet up, outside on a wall.
Dozens of yards away are various solar reflectors angled to reflect sunlight onto that plate.
Problem is, the plate requires to be only struck straight on at a 0 degree angle of incidence.
And, all the reflected sources are striking it at some other angle up to 45 degrees off center.
Is there any lens or dome or reflective funnel arrangement, or something else altogether, that
could be put in front of the plate to take all those different angled incoming sunlight sources
and align them all, to next be exiting it to strike the plate behind it straight on at a 0 degree
angle of incidence?
Thank you for any thoughts or suggestions.
- Shane
Dozens of yards away are various solar reflectors angled to reflect sunlight onto that plate.
Problem is, the plate requires to be only struck straight on at a 0 degree angle of incidence.
And, all the reflected sources are striking it at some other angle up to 45 degrees off center.
Is there any lens or dome or reflective funnel arrangement, or something else altogether, that
could be put in front of the plate to take all those different angled incoming sunlight sources
and align them all, to next be exiting it to strike the plate behind it straight on at a 0 degree
angle of incidence?
Thank you for any thoughts or suggestions.
- Shane





RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
Han primo incensus
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
However, you bring up a good point, a convex lens or hollow dome coated hot mirror,
would always be presenting O degree AOI for some small % of sunlight, regardless angle.
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
Han primo incensus
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
Remove as much as possible the IR component above 700nm, letting pass the remaining cooler visible light.
These hot and cold mirrors, represented by the flat plate in OP, that do so are pricey per cm, so looking
at reflecting & concentrating more solar outside to be directed at and through it's smaller aperture, to
where it'll reflect the IR, letting pass the visible light.
Some outfits have done so with Cassegrain parabolic collectors, directing solar through a hot mirror, so
they don't melt the fiber optic cable that next transfers light deeper into building. I don't want to fool
with all that complexity and expense, just direct through wall mounted hot mirror and diffused inside.
Challenge is, these hot mirrors require 0° AOI (cold mirrors 45° AOI), and they don't perform well off it,
so I'm inquiring here if there is any way to get AOI better aligned in front of it, before contact with the
mirror. Closer to 0°, with it coming in from different reflectors at varying angles throughout the day,
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
I hope you are right and I'd been reading this all wrong and AOI not as narrowly critical.
I'd been talking with Edmund Optics, originally about UV/IR filters and they'd written back; "Furthermore, the angle of incidence is critical to the performance of the filter. If the angle is off, the efficiency will not be the same as the published specifications." They also said heat would be an issue with the filters, which had me then looking at the hot/cold mirrors. I wrote same tech guy back about AOI range clarification for the mirrors, awaiting word back. Also, have similar inquiry into Thorlabs about AOI for their hot/cold mirrors.
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
I'm still waiting to hear from manufacturers exactly what the efficiency drop off is as you go away from straight on 0° AOI.
Anybody here know or have link to more about that particular aspect?
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
Han primo incensus
RE: Any lens to take various angle of incidence light striking it and then align them all?
TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers