Demonstration of molded glass primary optics for high-efficiency micro-concentrator photovoltaics

Jost, Norman; Vallerotto, Guido; Tripoli, Alessandro; Askins, Stephen; Domínguez, César; Antón, Ignacio

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2022.111882

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…and the IES‐UPM resulted in prototype aspheric bulk lens arrays have demonstrated experimental optical efficiencies over 80% at a concentration of ≈180X, and performance improvements are anticipated with further prototype iterations. [ 126 ]…”

Section: New Enabling Technologies For Micro Cpvmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A metallic plate and stamp are compressed with the viscose material in between for structuring the part. Used for aspheric glass or PMMA lens arrays or single Fresnel lenses; [126,127] 5) Roller UV-E: UV-curable resins are structured by a roller mold and progressively cured. Roll-to-roll or roll-to-plate can be used.…”

Section: Reflectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…and the IES-UPM resulted in prototype aspheric bulk lens arrays have demonstrated experimental optical efficiencies over 80% at a concentration of %180X, and performance improvements are anticipated with further prototype iterations. [126] Standard PGM, as depicted in Figure 17, uses compression molding with molds usually manufactured by diamond milling. A limitation is that only one side of the glass sheet can be structured, the other side must be polished to remove surface contaminations during the process.…”

Section: Compression-modling/precision Glass Molding (Pgm)mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Integrated Micro‐Scale Concentrating Photovoltaics: A Scalable Path Toward High‐Efficiency, Low‐Cost Solar Power

Jost

Juejun

et al. 2023

Solar RRL

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The global energy market is seeing increases in the electricity demand of a couple of percentage points annually. The photovoltaic (PV) industry is also growing rapidly every year. One of the PV technologies is concentrator photovoltaics (CPV). CPV uses high‐efficiency multijunction solar cells and optics to concentrate sunlight, thereby significantly reducing the amount of semiconductor material needed. Yet, due to the high upfont manufacturing cost of CPV, it currently does not offer a competitive price against silicon PV. With this a new branch is introduced to the industry, micro‐CPV, which can be broadly explained as the miniaturization of the solar cells and optical components. The motivation for micro‐CPV is lowering the cost by decreasing the material volume and enabling new system architectures and high‐throughput manufacturing methods, while still maintaining high electrical efficiencies, taking advantage of a lower thermal load, shorter optical paths, lower resistive losses, and lower material volumes. Herein, a comprehensive review of the technological advances is presented, key synergies between micro‐CPV and other industries sharing similar challenges are identified, exemplified by micro‐light emitting diodes display manufacturing. New assembly process development in these industries will facilitate commercial adoption of micro‐CPV with continued miniaturization while driving down the cost.

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Section: New Enabling Technologies For Micro Cpvmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reflectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Compression-modling/precision Glass Molding (Pgm)mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Integrated Micro‐Scale Concentrating Photovoltaics: A Scalable Path Toward High‐Efficiency, Low‐Cost Solar Power

Jost

Juejun

et al. 2023

Solar RRL

Self Cite

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“…Today's commercial cells in Concentrated Photovoltaics (CPV) modules have a size around 3 Â 3 mm 2 and are integrated in modules equipped with Fresnel lens panels [2]. However, many reasons push towards the miniaturization of these cells such as an improved heat management and/or reduced resistance losses and many teams and researchers are pushing towards micro-CPV [3][4][5][6]. Yet, due to the reduction in their size, the impact of perimeter losses will be amplified [7,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of individual I(V) characteristics of each sub-cell of a triple junction device

et al. 2023

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Very high conversion efficiency is reached with triple junction solar devices integrated in concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules. However, reduction of the active area for micro-CPV applications increases the perimeter/area ratio, enhancing losses linked to the edges. It is therefore important to characterize the perimeter influence on the final conversion efficiency. For this purpose, I(V) characterization under dark and/or light could be used as a test of the sidewalls influence. We have designed an experiment to perform I(V) curves using the light of three lasers with adjustable powers at 405, 785, and 980 nm, preferentially absorbed by the top, middle or bottom junction of the device, respectively. This experiment was applied to commercial devices made from a stack of GaInP/GaAs/Ge. In parallel we have developed a numerical calculation modeling the device to reproduce the behaviors observed during I(V) experiments. Junction parameters and influence of leakage resistances are deduced from the fit of experimental results with the numerical calculation. The I(V) experiment as well as the numerical calculation are presented in details. It is also underlined that, combining both experiment and calculation, the I(V) characteristic of each junction as if it was isolated can be determined.

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Fabrication of high-performance lens arrays for micro-concentrator photovoltaics using ultraviolet imprinting

Jost,

Jacobo-Martín,

Vallerotto

et al. 2024

Int J Adv Manuf Technol

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Micro-concentrator photovoltaics (micro-CPV) is a cutting-edge CPV approach aimed at increasing the efficiency and reducing the cost and carbon footprint of solar electricity by downscaling concentrator solar cells and optics. The reduced size of micro-CPV provides several advantages over conventional CPV, including shorter optical paths and lower temperature and resistive losses in the cell, resulting in higher electrical efficiencies. This may increase the energy yield per area compared to conventional CPV or silicon modules. Cost reduction is achieved through material savings and the use of continuous manufacturing methods enabled by the tiny size of cells and optics, such as roll-to-roll (R2R) and roll-to-plate (R2P) ultraviolet (UV) imprinting for optics production. However, adapting these processes to large-area arrays of Fresnel micro-lenses with no wasted areas and high efficiency remains a challenge. In this study, we present a comprehensive methodology for the development of micro-CPV optics with full area coverage—from design and mastering to up-scaling, tooling, and replication. The methodology involves designing a non-rotationally symmetric elementary insert tailored to ultraviolet imprinting. Crucially, multiple inserts are originated via precision machining and recombined to form a single array master mold without wasted areas. The master is then replicated into a flexible working stamp for UV imprinting of Fresnel lens arrays, utilizing different UV curable materials. The functional characterization of the lenses demonstrates an optical efficiency of 80% at 178X under collimated white light, representing the highest effective concentration achieved using UV-imprinted Fresnel lenses. Furthermore, initial reliability tests confirm the absence of degradation during thermal cycling or outdoor exposure. This methodology paves the way for continuous high-throughput manufacturing of micro-lens arrays using R2R or R2P methods, presenting a significant step forward in micro-CPV.

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Demonstration of molded glass primary optics for high-efficiency micro-concentrator photovoltaics

Cited by 5 publications

References 18 publications

Integrated Micro‐Scale Concentrating Photovoltaics: A Scalable Path Toward High‐Efficiency, Low‐Cost Solar Power

Integrated Micro‐Scale Concentrating Photovoltaics: A Scalable Path Toward High‐Efficiency, Low‐Cost Solar Power

Determination of individual I(V) characteristics of each sub-cell of a triple junction device

Fabrication of high-performance lens arrays for micro-concentrator photovoltaics using ultraviolet imprinting

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