1. A flattened heat pipe, comprising:
a flat and tubular closed container;
at least one wick structure; and
a working fluid sealed into the container, wherein
the wick structure consists of a sintered metal formed of sintered globular or deformed powder,
a cross-sectional shape of the wick structure in the container is formed into a semi-elliptical shape having a curved portion and a flat portion, the semi-elliptical shape being one half of an ellipse,
the flat portion of the wick structure is in contact with an inner wall of the container,
the curved portion of the wick structure is in contact with the inner wall of the container,
a capillary force is generated between the curved portion and the inner wall, while a capillary force is also generated in voids formed in the sintered metal,
vapor flowing passages are formed at least in curved areas of both sides of the container,
the inner wall of the container includes a first flat portion and a second flat portion which face each other,
the flat portion of the wick structure is in contact with the first flat portion of the inner wall,
the curved portion of the wick structure is in contact with the second flat portion of the inner wall, such that the cross-sectional shape of the wick structure has one point contact with the second flat portion of the inner wall of the container,
the one point contact is plastically deformed by the second flat portion of the inner wall, wherein the one point contact is plastically deformed by at most 0.4 mm;
the one point contact is an end point of a central axis of the semi-elliptical shape, and
a gap between the second flat portion of the inner wall and the curved portion of the wick structure narrows toward the end point.
2. The flattened heat pipe according to claim 1, wherein the wick structure is formed of a substantially same thickness as a whole.
3. The flattened heat pipe according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the wick structure is changed so as to be thicker in a high-temperature portion where an exothermic element is disposed than in a low-temperature portion where none of exothermic elements are disposed.
4. The flattened heat pipe according to claim 1, wherein only one wick structure is provided in the container, the inner wall of the container includes first and second curved portions provided between the first and second flat portions respectively, and the wick structure is spaced away from the first and second curved portions.
5. The flattened heat pipe according to claim 4, wherein the working fluid is exposed to the wick structure via both the first and second curved portions.
6. The flattened heat pipe according to claim 1, wherein the gap forms refluxing portions that generate a portion of the capillary force between the curved portion and the inner wall.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of automatically generating and analyzing solar cell current-voltage (IV) curves, the method comprising:
varying a DC load presented to a first string of solar panels in a plurality of strings of solar panels, each string of solar panels in the plurality of strings of solar panels comprising a plurality of serially-connected solar panels, each solar panel in the plurality of serially-connected solar panels comprising a plurality of serially-connected solar cells mounted on a same frame;
sensing voltages and currents generated by the first string of solar panels responsive to the variation of the DC load; and
receiving data indicative of an environmental parameter; and
a computer automatically generating a first IV curve of the first string of solar panels by plotting the voltages and currents generated by the first string of solar panels responsive to the variation of the DC load.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of strings of solar panels is coupled to a device that presents the DC load to the plurality of strings of solar panels, and the voltages generated by the first string of solar panels responsive to the variation of the DC load are sensed at the device.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
evaluating performance of the first string of solar panels by comparing the first IV curve to another IV curve.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
analyzing the first IV curve to detect a failure in the first string of solar panels.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the failure is an open circuit condition.
6. The method of claim 4 wherein the failure is a short circuit condition.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
automatically generating a second IV curve of the first string of solar panels, the second IV curve indicating voltages and currents generated by the first string of solar panels over a period of time.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:
detecting performance degradation trends of the first string of solar panels by comparing the first IV curve to the second IV curve.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
sensing currents generated by a second string of solar panels in the plurality of strings of solar panels;
sensing voltages generated by the second string of solar panels; and
automatically generating a third IV curve of the second string of solar panels in the plurality of strings of solar panels, the third IV curve indicating voltages and currents generated by the second string of solar panels over a period of time.
10. A photovoltaic system comprising:
a plurality of strings of solar panels, each string of solar panels in the plurality of strings of solar panels comprising a plurality of serially-connected solar panels, each solar panel in the plurality of serially-connected solar panels comprising a plurality of serially-connected solar cells mounted on a same frame;
a current sensor circuit in each string of solar panels in the plurality of strings of solar panels; and
a computer configured to:
receive sensor data from the current sensor circuit in each string of solar panels in the plurality of strings of solar panels,
receive environmental data, and
generate a current-voltage (IV) curve of a first string of solar panels in the plurality of solar panels by plotting currents and voltages generated by the first string of solar panels responsive to variation of a DC load presented to the first string of solar panels over a first period of time.
11. The photovoltaic system of claim 10 further comprising:
a device presenting the DC load to the plurality of strings of solar panels.
12. The photovoltaic system of claim 11 wherein the device comprises a photovoltaic inverter.
13. The photovoltaic system of claim 10 wherein the computer is further configured to generate a second IV curve of the first string of solar panels, and to compare the first IV curve to the second IV curve to detect performance degradation of the first string of solar panels.
14. The photovoltaic system of claim 10 wherein the computer is further configured to generate a third IV curve of a second string of solar panels in the plurality of strings of solar panels.
15. The photovoltaic system of claim 10 wherein the computer is further configured to compare the first IV curve to another IV curve to evaluate performance of the first string of solar panels.
16. A method of automatically generating and analyzing solar cell current-voltage (IV) curves, the method comprising:
controlling a device to vary a DC load presented to a plurality of strings of solar panels;
sensing currents and voltages generated by a first string of solar panels in the plurality of strings of solar panels responsive to the variation of the DC load; and
generating a first IV curve of the first string of solar panels by plotting the currents and voltages generated by the first string of solar panels responsive to the variation of the DC load.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the device comprises a photovoltaic inverter.
18. The method of claim 16 further comprising:
comparing the first IV curve to another IV curve to evaluate performance of the first string of solar panels.
19. The method of claim 16 further comprising:
generating a second IV curve of a second string of solar panels in the plurality of strings of solar panels; and
analyzing the second IV curve to detect a problem with the second string of solar panels.
20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
filtering at least some data that includes the voltages and currents generated by the first string of solar panels responsive to the variation of the DC load based on the environmental parameter.