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A first Workshop on one sample invention, a solar float that keeps a rainwater tank fresh. Six pieces, in the order they are made. On a paid plan this is day one: your packet builds as you grow.

Step 2 of 5 · Prior art scan

35 references

What is already out there

The proposed Solar Circulating Aerator Float sits in an active space of solar-powered water circulation and aeration. The closest existing art, [1], describes a floating solar array that powers aerators and subsurface circulators, and [2] a solar-powered inertial fluid mobilizer that circulates water specifically to address algae and stagnation. Dedicated solar aeration devices appear in [3], [4], and [5], and [8] covers vertical circulation driven by rising air bubbles. On the science side, [13] shows that moving aeration measurably reduces cyanobacteria, [15] and [20] review artificial destratification for reservoir water quality, and [25] finds that continuous mixing weakens Microcystis dominance; theoretical work such as [28] and [29] models how mixing and turbulence govern phytoplankton, which supports the mechanism at work here. None of the references found describe your specific configuration: a small, self-contained float sized so its own panel keeps a closed rainwater store fresh by matching circulation to the daylight that drives the algae. The references are aimed at open ponds, reservoirs and pontoon-scale arrays rather than a closed rainwater tank. Read the closest references, especially [1], [2], and [8], before you settle on claim language.

Patents (US) (14)

[1] Floating solar photovoltaic array with on-board energy management system for controlling and powering inflatable support pontoons, water quality, air compression and mooring devices (2021)sim 0.66
[2] Solar powered inertial fluid mobilizer (2007)sim 0.64
[3] Water aeration system (2014)sim 0.62
[4] Solar aeration system (2001)sim 0.60

10 more in the full list, which the IDF packet carries.

Patents (Global) (4)

[7] Floating solar platform (2016)sim 0.54
[9] Solar powered and floating evaporator (2007)sim 0.50
[10] Floating photovoltaic platform (2013)sim 0.48
[14] Floating solar system (2019)sim 0.44

PubMed (9)

[13] Using intermittent moving aeration to repair hypereutrophic pond: nutrient removal efficiency and microbial diversity analysis (2023)sim 0.45
[15] Artificial destratification options for reservoir management (2025)sim 0.43
[17] A critical review on operation and performance of source water control strategies for cyanobacterial blooms: Part II - mechanical and biological control methods (2021)sim 0.41
[20] Effects of artificial destratification and induced-natural mixing on water quality improvement in a drinking water reservoir (2020)sim 0.38

5 more in the full list, which the IDF packet carries.

arXiv (8)

[28] Effects of large-scale advection and small-scale turbulent diffusion on vertical phytoplankton dynamics (2021)sim 0.30
[29] Stirring, mixing, growing: microscale processes change larger scale phytoplankton dynamics (2019)sim 0.29
[30] Vertical distribution and composition of phytoplankton under the influence of an upper mixed layer (2010)sim 0.28
[31] Large Eddy Simulations of bubbly flows and breaking waves with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (2022)sim 0.27

4 more in the full list, which the IDF packet carries.

Patents searched through Apr 21, 2026. Papers searched through today. Newer patents may not show yet.

Patent, secret, or both?Part of this may stay hidden after you sell it. Open for the trade.

Billie

From what you've written, part of this may stay hidden after you sell it. Before you put it in a patent, here's something worth knowing. A patent application is published, usually about 18 months after you first file, and it has to explain how to make your invention. That's the trade: full disclosure for about 20 years of protection.

A trade secret goes the other way. You keep it hidden, and it lasts as long as it stays hidden. But it protects nothing if someone works it out honestly by taking your product apart or inventing it themselves.

Many businesses do both. They patent what people can see and keep the process secret. Which route fits your invention is a call for a patent professional. I've put together the questions to bring them, based on what you've told me.

Billie

These are the closest references I found across patents and papers, with how near each one sits to your mechanism. Read [1], [2] and [8] first.

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