A review of optical concentrators for portable solar photovoltaic systems for developing countries

Freier, Daria; Ramirez-Iniguez, Roberto; Jafry, Tahseen; Muhammad‐Sukki, Firdaus; Gamio, Carlos

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2018.03.039

Cited by 31 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…This paper captured the history of concentrator and provided an up-to-date review of concentrator technology in the last eight years and its future prospect. Other published literature only capture certain element of the CPV technology, such as the review on specific type of concentrator, e.g., compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) designs [21], volume holographic concentrator designs [22], non-imaging concentrator designs [23], or on certain thematic theme such as the development of concentrator for portable PV system [24] and the LCA and environmental aspect of utilising concentrator technology [25].…”

Section: Target Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Static Concentrator Technology to Achieve Global Energy Goal

et al. 2019

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Solar energy has demonstrated promising prospects in satisfying energy requirements, specifically through solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. Despite that, the cost of installation is deemed as the main hurdle to the widespread uptake of solar PV systems due to the use of expensive PV material in the module. At this point, we argue that a reduction in PV cost could be achieved through the usage of concentrator. A solar concentrator is a type of lens that is capable of increasing the collection of sun rays and focusing them onto a lesser PV area. The cost of the solar module could then be reduced on the assumption that the cost of introducing the solar concentrator in the solar module design is much lower than the cost of the removed PV material. Static concentrators, in particular, have great promise due to their ability to be integrated at any place of the building, usually on the building facade, windows and roof, due to their low geometrical concentration. This paper provides a historic context on the development of solar concentrators and showcases the latest technological development in static PV concentrators including non-imaging compound parabolic concentrator, V-trough, luminescent solar concentrator and quantum dot concentrator. We anticipated that the static low concentrating PV (LCPV) system could serve to enhance the penetration of PV technology in the long run to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7—to open an avenue to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030.

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Section: Target Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…), which made it impossible to monitor the actual installed capacity worldwide. In terms of cost, it is difficult to determine the data pertaining to its installation cost [24]. It has been predicted that the cost of a CPV system is able to compete with the traditional solar PV system.…”

Section: Solar Concentrator: a Historic Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Static Concentrator Technology to Achieve Global Energy Goal

et al. 2019

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“…Whilst being arguably more sustainable than local diesel generators, solar chargers are still potentially harmful to the environment and this increases with the number of devices manufactured, sold and disposed of [1]. Silicon photovoltaic (PV) modules are mainly used for portable solar chargers, and their production is very energy intensive leading to increased greenhouse gas (GHG) [2] emissions and involves the use of toxic substances which can harm workers and the environment [3,4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design method of a compact static nonimaging concentrator for portable photovoltaics using parameterisation and numerical optimisation

et al. 2020

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Portable solar chargers are one of the technologies that can help to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030. However, the large number of solar photovoltaic devices required and their short life-span make achieving this goal a resource and energy intensive process. To reduce the embodied energy, the embodied carbon and the human and eco-toxicity potential of portable solar chargers, solar photovoltaic concentrators can be used. This paper proposes a new nonimaging solar photovoltaic concentrator design which has material efficiency, portability and off-grid use as its main feature. The main contribution of this paper is the design method of the new 3D nonimaging concentrator containing the parametric equation of the concentrator surfaces and the numeric optimisation of the design parameters. The developed optimisation program is based on genetic algorithms which parameters were determined experimentally in this paper. The concentrator design achieved with this method is 43% less material intensive than the most compact nonimaging solar concentrator available in literature. This design approach can be used to find concentrator designs with specific volumes, heights, concentration ratios, acceptance angles and optical efficiency. It is therefore a step towards more material efficient and more sustainable nonimaging concentrators and more sustainable portable solar photovoltaic systems.

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“…19,35,36 In the literature, some review studies have been carried out on solar concentrating systems. However, these studies provide a very general overview of the solar collectors without sufficient details on the application of CPCs to PV conversion 12,[37][38][39][40][41] or discuss CPCs for different applications 42,43 or discuss CPCs under different themes such as optics 41,44 or PV/thermal. 45 This study, therefore, aims at providing a comprehensive review of the developments in the application of CPCs to solar photovoltaic conversion for the past five decades.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of compound parabolic concentrators to solar photovoltaic conversion: A comprehensive review

Paul

2019

Int J Energy Res

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Summary The use of concentrating systems has been proposed as a way to reduce the cost of electrical energy from photovoltaic (PV) module. Since 1970s, different solar collector designs have been used to increase energy flux on the PV module. This study aims at providing a comprehensive review of development in the application of compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs) to solar photovoltaic conversion for the past five decades. By narrowing down the application of CPCs to electrical energy only gives a reader an opportunity to clearly understand the detail development stages, challenges, and research opportunities for further improvement. From this review, it has been found that during 1970s, all studies on the application of CPCs to solar photovoltaic conversion were mainly focused on establishing technical feasibility and cost effectiveness. Thereafter (1981‐May 2018), extensive studies were carried out to resolve challenges that were observed during the establishment stage. However, it has been found that even though the power output of the PV modules with the CPC was always higher than similar modules without the CPC, the values were less than the expected (theoretical) results. This was due to optical losses, series resistance losses, non‐uniform illumination effect, and high operating cell temperature effect. In addition, high cost of the PV‐CPC systems and low concentration ratio of the CPCs were also the main concerns of various researchers.

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A review of optical concentrators for portable solar photovoltaic systems for developing countries

Cited by 31 publications

References 70 publications

Using Static Concentrator Technology to Achieve Global Energy Goal

Using Static Concentrator Technology to Achieve Global Energy Goal

Design method of a compact static nonimaging concentrator for portable photovoltaics using parameterisation and numerical optimisation

Application of compound parabolic concentrators to solar photovoltaic conversion: A comprehensive review

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