Concentrix Solar's progress in developing highly efficient modules

Riesen, S. van; Gombert, Andreas; Gerster, Eckart; Gerstmaier, T.; Jaus, J.; Eltermann, Fabian; Dimroth, Frank; Kurtz, Sarah; Sala, Gabriel; Bett, Andreas W.

doi:10.1063/1.3658334

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Solar photon ux utilization can be maximized by employing multiple smaller band gap absorber layers connected in series to yield a combined voltage large enough to split water at relevant reaction rates. This approach has proven successful in the photovoltaic industry [17][18][19] as well as in laboratory PEC water splitting devices. 6,7,9 The generation of the requisite photovoltage is a necessary but insufficient condition to split water.…”

Section: Basic Operation Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical and economic feasibility of centralized facilities for solar hydrogen production via photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry

Pinaud

Benck

Seitz

et al. 2013

Energy Environ. Sci.

1,245

1,069

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Photoelectrochemical water splitting is a promising route for the renewable production of hydrogen fuel. This work presents the results of a technical and economic feasibility analysis conducted for four hypothetical, centralized, large-scale hydrogen production plants based on this technology. The four reactor types considered were a single bed particle suspension system, a dual bed particle suspension system, a fixed panel array, and a tracking concentrator array. The current performance of semiconductor absorbers and electrocatalysts were considered to compute reasonable solar-tohydrogen conversion efficiencies for each of the four systems. The U.S. Department of Energy H2A model was employed to calculate the levelized cost of hydrogen output at the plant gate at 300 psi for a 10 tonne per day production scale. All capital expenditures and operating costs for the reactors and auxiliaries (compressors, control systems, etc.) were considered. The final cost varied from $1.60-$10.40 per kg H 2 with the particle bed systems having lower costs than the panel-based systems. However, safety concerns due to the cogeneration of O 2 and H 2 in a single bed system and long molecular transport lengths in the dual bed system lead to greater uncertainty in their operation. A sensitivity analysis revealed that improvement in the solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of the panel-based systems could substantially drive down their costs. A key finding is that the production costs are consistent with the Department of Energy's targeted threshold cost of $2.00-$4.00 per kg H 2 for dispensed hydrogen, demonstrating that photoelectrochemical water splitting could be a viable route for hydrogen production in the future if material performance targets can be met. Broader contextAs global energy consumption continues to rise, it is imperative that we develop renewable alternatives to the fossil fuel energy sources that currently power our civilization, curb CO 2 emissions, and secure a permanent energy supply for the future. Although the solutions to these global challenges are likely to consist of many different energy storage and conversion technologies, sustainably produced chemical fuels will likely play an important role due to their high energy density. Hydrogen gas is an especially promising energy carrier, but current hydrogen production processes such as steam methane reforming are unsustainable. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is an alternative process that enables sustainable hydrogen production from water using the energy from sunlight. PEC water splitting has been demonstrated on the laboratory scale, but it has never been implemented on a large scale relevant to the global energy demand, so the prospects for scaling up this process have remained controversial. The present paper addresses the technical and economic feasibility of plants producing hydrogen via PEC water splitting. We establish practical operating efficiencies for PEC reactors, detail four potential reactor and centralized plant designs, and discuss the...

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Section: Basic Operation Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical and economic feasibility of centralized facilities for solar hydrogen production via photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry

Pinaud

Benck

Seitz

et al. 2013

Energy Environ. Sci.

1,245

1,069

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Solar cells with efficiencies approaching 40% are currently commercially available [1,2]. On the module level, solar power conversion efficiencies above 30% have been reported [3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling of concentrating photovoltaic and thermal systems

Helmers

Bett

Parisi

et al. 2012

Progress in Photovoltaics

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An energy balance model for concentrating photovoltaic and thermal (CPVT) systems is presented. In the model, the CPVT system and its environment are represented using a set of input parameters. The main outputs of the model are the system's electrical and thermal efficiencies. The model accounts for optical losses. Thermal losses are derived from a thermal network model of the hybrid receiver. The solar cell performance is modeled as a function of the temperature and the irradiance. The robustness of the model is demonstrated by a sensitivity analysis of all input parameters. The influence of the operating temperature on the electrical and thermal performances and the overall efficiency of the CPVT system are discussed. The limiting cases of maximum electrical and thermal power outputs are presented. Further, the influence of the concentration ratio on the electrical and thermal performance and on the partitioning of these two power outputs is analyzed in detail. It is shown that high concentration reduces the thermal losses considerably and increases the electrical efficiency. At concentration ratios above 300, the system operates with an overall efficiency of 75% at temperatures up to 160°C

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“…For common CPV Fresnel designs which have large unit dimension over 300mm×300mm, this problem is not serious because these kind of designs usually have large pitches between circles of a single lens, and the tolerance in lens-cell assembly is generally big by using refractive secondary optics. However, with the development of CPV technology, CPV modules are getting thinner and using smaller cells [1][2] . Correspondingly, large area intensive lens arrays with smaller unit dimension and shorter focal length are wanted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The design and application of large area intensive lens array focal spots measurement system

et al. 2014

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Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) modules are getting thinner and using smaller cells now days. Correspondingly, large area intensive lens arrays with smaller unit dimension and shorter focal length are wanted. However, the size and power center of lens array focal spots usually differ from the design value and are hard to measure, especially under large area situation. It is because the machining error and deformation of material of the lens array are hard to simulate in the optical design process. Thus the alignment error between solar cells and focal spots in the module assembly process will be hard to control. Under this kind of situation, the efficiency of CPV module with thinner body and smaller cells is much lower than expected. In this paper, a design of large area lens array focal spots automatic measurement system is presented, as well as its prototype application results. In this system, a four-channel parallel light path and its corresponding image capture and process modules are designed. These modules can simulate focal spots under sunlight and have the spots image captured and processed using charge coupled devices and certain gray level algorithm. Thus the important information of focal spots such as spot size and location will be exported. Motion control module based on grating scale signal and interval measurement method are also employed in this system in order to get test results with high speed and high precision on large area lens array no less than 1m×0.8m. The repeatability of the system prototype measurement is ±10μm with a velocity of 90 spot/min. Compared to the original module assembled using coordinates from optical design, modules assembled using data exported from the prototype is 18% higher in output power, reaching a conversion efficiency of over 31%. This system and its design can be used in the focal spot measurement of planoconvex lens array and Fresnel lens array, as well as other kinds of large area lens array application with small focal spots.

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Concentrix Solar's progress in developing highly efficient modules

Cited by 11 publications

References 3 publications

Technical and economic feasibility of centralized facilities for solar hydrogen production via photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry

Technical and economic feasibility of centralized facilities for solar hydrogen production via photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry

Modeling of concentrating photovoltaic and thermal systems

The design and application of large area intensive lens array focal spots measurement system

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