Abstract. The field of concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) has met some remarkable advances in recent years. The continuous increase in conversion efficiency of multijunction solar cells and new advancements in optics have led to new demands and opportunities for optical design in CPV. This paper is a mini-review on current requirements for CPV optical design, and it presents some of the main trends in recent years on CPV systems architecture. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Abstract:Non-uniform irradiance patterns over Multi-Junction Cells gives rise to power losses, especially when considering spectral irradiance distributions over different junctions. Thermal effects on Silicone-onGlass lenses affect spectral irradiance distributions.

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The simultaneous multiple surface (SMS) design method is extended to include design of diffractive optical surfaces besides refractive and reflective ones. This method involves the simultaneous and direct (no optimization) calculation of diffractive and refractive/reflective surfaces. Using the phase-shift properties of diffractive elements as an extra degree of freedom, two rays for each point on each diffractive surface are controlled. Representative diffractive systems designed by the SMS method are shown.