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EP-4735792-A1 - THE DELTA LUMINAIRE - PHOTOVOLTAIC POWERED ROADWAY & AREA LIGHTING LUMINAIRE

EP4735792A1EP 4735792 A1EP4735792 A1EP 4735792A1EP-4735792-A1

Abstract

A modular, low profiled, scalable, self-powered integrated structure luminaire (100) is coupled electromechanically to a vertical structure (2) that supports a power storage device (3).

Inventors

  • SPIRO, DANIEL S

Assignees

  • Barn 4260 LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240626

Claims (20)

  1. 1. An integrated self-powered luminaire comprising: a housing having a protective frame with stiffening ribs and an elongated enclosure that is mechanically attachable to a pole structure via an arm, the protective frame being substantially square and horizontally oriented; a light source that is coupled to the housing; and a photovoltaic panel that is coupled to the housing, wherein from the arm, the elongated enclosure extends diagonally below the protective frame toward an opposite end of the protective frame, perpendicularly oriented to the elongated structure, the stiffening ribs respectively extend outward and couple to vertical walls of the protective frame, the vertical walls define an external perimeter of the housing with at least one coupled lip extending from an interior face of one of the vertical walls outwardly, at a top of the housing, the photovoltaic panel couples to at least one of the lip and a stiffening rib from above and from below, the light source is coupled to a down facing surface of the housing, a size and shape of the photovoltaic panel is set to be abutted to another photovoltaic panel to accommodate a condition that additional power is needed for at least another light source that is coupled to the pole structure, and under a condition the another photovoltaic panel is abutted to the photovoltaic panel, at least one vertical wall of the housing is disposed parallel to a vertical wall of another housing structure to which the another photovoltaic panel is coupled.
  2. 2. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 1, further comprising: the pole structure, wherein the pole structure being vertically oriented and the housing is attached closer to a top end of the pole structure than an opposite end of the pole structure that is attached to ground.
  3. 3. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 1, wherein air is free to flow through an air gap located between a top of the elongated enclosure and a bottom face of the photovoltaic panel.
  4. 4. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 1, further comprising a cover that removably encloses at least one compartment inside the elongated enclosure.
  5. 5. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 1, further comprising at least one electrical device that is coupled to a removable cover of an elongated enclosure compartment.
  6. 6. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 5, wherein through at least one bore in a wall of the elongated enclosure compartment, power and/or data flows via a conductor to and/or from the electrical device.
  7. 7. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 1, wherein the photovoltaic panel coupled to the housing is substantially horizontally positioned.
  8. 8. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 1, wherein the housing has a shape of at least one of a square, and a square with a truncated corner.
  9. 9. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 1, wherein the arm is at least one of an integral arm and a coupled arm.
  10. 10. An assembly of integrated self-powered luminaires coupled to a pole, the assembly comprising: a first integrated self-powered luminaire comprising a housing having a protective frame with stiffening ribs and an elongated enclosure that is mechanically attachable to a pole structure via an arm, the protective frame being substantially square and horizontally oriented, a light source that is coupled to the housing, a photovoltaic panel that is coupled to the housing, at least one additional electrical device other than the light source and the photovoltaic panel are coupled to first integrated self-powered luminaire, wherein from the arm, the elongated enclosure extends diagonally below the protective frame toward an opposite end of the protective frame, perpendicularly oriented to the elongated structure, the stiffening ribs respectively extend outward and couple to vertical walls of the protective frame, the vertical walls define an external perimeter of the housing structure with at least one coupled lip extending from an interior face of one of the vertical walls outwardly, at a top of the housing, the photovoltaic panel couples to at least one of the lip and a stiffening rib from above and from below, the light source is coupled to a down facing surface of the housing; a second integrated self-powered luminaire, wherein the vertical walls of the protective frame of the first integrated self-powered luminaire and vertical walls of a protective frame of the second integrated self-powered luminaire are coupled to the pole and are adjacent and parallel to one another at a same elevation; a third integrated self-powered luminaire, and a fourth integrated self-powered luminaire are also coupled to the pole via respective arms, and at the same elevation as the first integrated self-powered luminaire and the second integrated self-powered luminaire, wherein a combined outer periphery of the first integrated self-powered luminaire, the second integrated self-powered luminaire, the third integrated self-powered luminaire, and the fourth integrated self-powered luminaire are square in shape, and an inner periphery of the first integrated self-powered luminaire, the second integrated self-powered luminaire, the third integrated self-powered luminaire, and the fourth integrated self-powered luminaire are spaced apart from the pole by a through air-opening such that under a condition an ambient temperature above the photovoltaic panel exceeds a temperature directly below the assembly, an air stream from below flows through the through-air opening so as to cool electrical devices coupled to the housing.
  11. 11. The assembly of claim 10, wherein the electrical devices are cooled by a chimney effect.
  12. 12. The assembly of claim 10, wherein the electrical devices are cooled by a Venturi effect.
  13. 13. The assembly of claim 10, wherein a mechanical strength of the protective frame is sufficient to support another photovoltaic panel that has a surface area greater than that for the photovoltaic panel and additional light sources.
  14. 14. The assembly of claim 10, wherein cross air flows between a top on the elongated enclosure and a bottom face of the photovoltaic panel so as to cool electrical devices coupled to the housing.
  15. 15. An integrated self-powered luminaire comprising: a housing having a protective frame with stiffening ribs and an elongated enclosure that is mechanically attachable to a pole structure via an arm, the protective frame being substantially square and horizontally oriented; a light source that is coupled to the housing; a power supply; a conductor; a photovoltaic panel; and a distal power storage device, wherein the elongated enclosure extends diagonally below the protective frame toward an opposite end of the protective frame, perpendicularly oriented to the elongated structure, the stiffening ribs respectively extend outward and couple to vertical walls of the protective frame, the vertical walls define an external perimeter of the housing structure with at least one coupled lip extending from an interior face of one of the vertical walls outwardly, the elongated enclosure includes an internal compartment that retains a power supply and an external bottom surface that retains the light source that emits light downwardly; the conductor is disposed through at least one bore in a wall of the internal compartment to provide power and/or data to and/or from an electrical device coupled to the housing structure; at a top of the housing, the photovoltaic panel couples to at least one of the lip and a stiffening rib from above and from below, the light source is coupled to a down facing surface of the housing, the arm of the elongated enclosure mechanically supports the weight of the photovoltaic panel and other coupled electrical devices that are coupled to the housing, and during daytime hours, power generated by the photovoltaic panel flows to at least one of, the power storage device and to a power grid, and at night, at least a portion of the power stored by the power storage device flows to the coupled light source of the self-powered luminaire so as to illuminate a surface below.
  16. 16. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 15, further comprising at least one of a sensor and a communication device coupled to the housing.
  17. 17. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 15, wherein a top surface of the housing structure is an electrified unmanned ariel vehicle (UAV) launching pad.
  18. 18. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 15, further comprising a processor with resident memory and code, the processor being coupled to the elongated enclosure.
  19. 19. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 15, wherein the internal compartment is covered by a detachable cover.
  20. 20. The integrated self-powered luminaire of claim 19, further comprising a power consuming device that is coupled to the detachable cover.

Description

The Delta Luminaire - Photovoltaic Powered Roadway & Area Lighting Luminaire CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] The present application claims the benefit of the earlier filing date of US provisional application 63/524,432, filed June 30, 2023, the entire contents of which being incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present disclosure relates to a self-powered roadway luminaire using photovoltaics (PV). DISCUSSION OF BACKGROUND [0003] The following description of the BACKGROUND includes new observations and insights made by the present inventor regarding the state of the art in area lighting luminaires, and thus these observations and insights should not be construed as admitted prior art. [0004] Roadway and area lighting luminaires are commonly coupled to poles (i.e., vertical structures that are able to host another component, such as a luminaire, at an elevated height). Within the urban fabric, roadway and area lighting poles are spaced apart from one another, with the luminaires providing the illumination light levels in accordance with the design intent. The lighting designer configures the needed lighting parameters by assessing the pole location, height, pole spacing, available luminaire type, the light level, and the uniformity ratio/s mandated. In municipal, county, state and federal right of ways, the specifications are mandated by a governing entity. [0005] LED (Light Emitting Diode) is the current lighting industry choice for roadway and area lighting luminaires. A pole mounted LED luminaire, with its power supply driving the luminaire’s light source (the driver), consumes electrical power. The power can be delivered by tapping into an urban power provider grid and/or can be locally generated by a power generating device coupled to a pole and/or installed in the vicinity of the pole. Presently, locally generated photovoltaic (PV) power is becoming increasingly affordable. [0006] The PV technology harnesses the sun’s electromagnetic photonic radiation and converts the energy to electrical power. The technology’s key elements include: the PV panels, the power converter, and the power storage that stores the generated power until it is needed. The electricity generated can be stored, transmitted to a power consuming device, and/or conveyed to a remote power grid. To optimize power usage, it is a common practice to transmit daytime generated PV power to a remote user/s through the grid and at nighttime, when cost of power is lower, to return at least a part of the power transmitted to the pole mounted luminaire/s. (In the present document the convention “xxx/s” is shorthand notation for “one or more” and thus should be construed as singular or plural). [0007] The PV panel/s of a self-power generating light pole is configured to collect solar energy from the sun, convert the solar energy into electricity, and use the electricity to provide electrical power to a LED light source that illuminates a surface area below at night. To capture maximum sun energy, the PV panel/s is typically tilted toward an optimal sun orbit. The PV panel tilt angle is commonly configured for wintertime when day length is shortened, and the sun is low in the sky. Aiming to capture maximum solar energy when solar energy is scarce, the wintertime tilt angle of the PV panel in the northern latitudes is required to be high. However, the PV panel may be hosted on a gimbaled mount that allows for active (e.g., via a stepper motor) repositioning of the PV panel to maximize solar energy collection throughout the day. [0008] The PV cells’ surface area is sized to correspond to the anticipated power demand and the demand duration. To avoid masking the light emitted by the luminaire powered by PV panel/s, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the PV panel/s is disposed above the light source of the luminaire. [0009] High tilt mounting angle of the PV panel has intrinsic benefits - it prevents snow/ice accumulation, and habitation by birds. However, coupled to a pole, the high tilt mounting angle has two major disadvantages. First, when tilting the PV panels toward the sun, wind loads on the pole increase, necessitating stronger poles and support structure. Stronger poles require stronger foundations, adding costs to the pole assembly. Second, since the placement of the PV panels is contingent on the sun’s orbit, the placement of the PV panels in relation to the light source power appears architecturally disjointed. Further, aside from the pole with the coupled luminaire and the PV panel/s, it is common practice to haphazardly couple a myriad of parasitic electrical devices, further contributing to an urban eyesore. [0010] The pole mounted PV panel/s is positioned to capture maximum energy from the sun. As the surface temperature of the sun facing PV panel exceeds 95°C, the power generation capacity of the panel is reduced. For this reason, the panel’s tilt angle and orien