Annual Energy Output Simulation of an Optical Concentrator Based PV System for Energy Security

Abstract

Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system is an application of PV devices introduced with the aim of reducing the cost of BIPV systems through the use of an optical element to concentrate or focus the solar radiation from a large area, into a smaller area to which the solar cell is attached, thus reducing the overall cost by saving expensive PV material. This paper aims at presenting the simulation results of an annual prediction for a system comprising of CPV based on the Rotationally Asymmetrical Compound Parabolic Concentrator (RACPC) and compared it with a non-concentrated PV module installed in Bogota, Colombia under different weather conditions. The yearly energy yield of the CPV module was calculated to be 480 kWh whereas the non-concentrating PV module had a drop in the output - almost half of the CPV module output, having a final value of 231 kWh. This indicates that the RACPC can increase the output by a factor of 2.08. This study demonstrates that a CPV system can be used as an alternative to a conventional PV system; as it offers a lower cost without compromising its performance.

Potential of building integrated and attached/applied photovoltaic (BIPV/BAPV) for adaptive less energy-hungry building’s skin: A comprehensive review

“…Currently, because of the rapid urbanization, 55% of the world population lives in urban areas and it is projected that in 2050 this will be 68% (Sampson et al, 2020). This urbanization consumes a considerable amount of electricity while most of the country depends on the imported fossil fuel energy sources to generate that electricity (Foster et al, 2020;Luo et al, 2020;Su, 2019;Xie et al, 2020). Also, the economic growth of a nation increases with urbanization (Gasimli et al, 2019).…”