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Parabola for Optimal Light Capture

Why a Parabola?


Tritium Vial in ParabolaTritium Vial in Parabola

To learn more about the luminosity and spectral intensity of tritium vials, read my post here: True Brightness of Tritium Vials 
Spoiler:


Mathematically, a parabola is the best shape to focus light from a single omnidirectional source in a specific direction. The "Focus" of a parabola is the optional point for the source of light. Note: this assumes that the source of light has a diameter of 0. Obviously, that being impossible, our 'Loss' in terms of 'non focused' light is a function of the diameter of the light source. This loss can be reduced to nearly 0 by placing the captured cell (solar cell) as close to the 'exit' of the parabola as possible.
Source Wikipedia

Initial Proof of Concept Video:

The light behind the source and rear of the parabola lost?

To measure if light reflecting between the source and the immediate walls behind the Tritium Vial is a significant loss, we can measure the performance with a double inverted broken parabola.

Tritium Vial in Double ParabolaTritium Vial in Double Parabola


There is an approximate 10% loss using the double inverted broken parabola. However, we will explore this in a subsequent blog post as conditions need to be strictly controlled. There is too much variance in the initial testing to come to a final conclusion that a double parabola is out of the running. However, be aware that initial results did show a 10% performance decrease. 

Glamor shots from initial testing:
Tritium Vial Parabola Testing Green
Double Parabola (Straight On Shot)

Tritium Vial Parabola Testing Green
Double Parabola (Side Shot)

Tritium Vial Parabola Testing Green
Double Parabola (Straight On Shot)

Tritium Vial Parabola Testing Green
Single Parabola (Straight On Shot)

Tritium Vial Parabola Testing Green Blue
Double Parabola (Straight On Shot)

Tritium Vial Parabola Testing Green
Super Size Signe Parabola (Straight On Shot)

Tritium Vial Parabola Testing Green
Super Size Signe Parabola (Side Shot)


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