Kirigami‐Based Compliant Mechanism for Multiaxis Optical Tracking and Energy‐Harvesting Applications

Abstract

Kirigami‐based structures and materials have recently emerged with a variety of geometric transformation capabilities in applications such as flexible electronics, soft robotics, nanophotonics, energy harvesting, and others. Herein, a 2D pattern of cuts (kirigami) that transform into a 3D, one‐piece compliant mechanism that allows for optical tracking over a solid angle sweep of over 110° in two axes is presented. This structure is scaled to an arbitrarily large array, yet the displacement required to achieve the angular sweep remain compact and independent of the number of elements and areal extent of the array. One of the applications of this mechanism is in solar concentration and dual‐axis tracking. Using practical dimensions, 80‐fold or greater concentration is realized. Mutual shadowing of nearby concentrators is assessed along with thermal effects of optical concentration that limit photovoltaic (PV) cell efficiency. The significant reduction in semiconductor usage along with the multiaxis tracking ability reduces the overall cost of solar PV panels. This is projected to make them competitive with stationary silicon panels capable of satisfying the household daily average energy requirement.