No abstract

No abstract

Low-concentration PV (CPV, concentrating photovoltaic) technology is a promising concept because it can work with the fixed installation. However, besides the economic consideration, the environmental impacts of the CPV module throughout its life cycle should be addressed as compared with the flat PV technology. Thus, in this paper, a novel high optical performance low-concentration concentrator namely asymmetric compound parabolic concentrator (aCPC) for building south wall integration is proposed. And based on the proposed aCPC-PV module, a life cycle assessment (LCA) has been performed for the low-concentration PV in China to make a scientific comparison with the PV module with the same output level environmentally. Several environmental indicators are calculated for Beijing, Hefei, Lhasa, Lanzhou, Harbin. The primary energy demand, energy payback time and environmental impacts *Revised Manuscript with No Changes Marked 2 are considered over the entire life cycle of the aCPC-PV module. The results show that the primary energy demand, energy payback time and environmental impacts of the aCPC-PV module are all relatively lower than that of the PV module with the same output. It is confirmed by the LCA study that the aCPC-PV module on behalf of the low-concentration PV technology is still a feasible and effective way for actual engineering because it's more economic and more environmental friendly than the PV technology although the PV is experiencing continuous decrease in price and increase in efficiency.

Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology as a typical PV application is becoming popular due to its advantages of high conversion efficiency and low cost etc.However an important issue for CPV technology is the non-uniformity on the illumination and the temperature which can finally influence the overall electrical efficiency of solar cells. This study presents the feature of the non-uniform illumination and temperature, and reviews the cause and harm of the non-uniform illumination and temperature. Then the specific effect on cell parameters of different solar cells is analyzed, and finally the improving methods for reducing this negative effect on concentrating solar cells are proposed. This review will help researchers to learn the effect of the non-uniformity on the illumination and the temperature, and common improvement method, which will benefit CPV design and optimization. *Revised Manuscript with No Changes Marked Click here to view linked References

No abstract