Experimental investigations into low concentrating line axis solar concentrators for CPV applications

Abstract

Solar photovoltaic conversion systems with integrated, low concentration ratio, nonimaging reflective concentrators, could be on south facing building roofs used to generate power at a lower cost than currently available proprietary systems . The experimental investigation presented by this research provides information on the optical and energy conversion characteristics of two geometrically equivalent non-imaging concentrators; a compound parabolic concentrator and a V-trough reflector. The aim was to investigate the assumption of uniform cell illumination when PV cells located on the receiver surface with their central axes are aligned parallel with the focal line of the lineaxis concentrator. Solar radiation incident was measured at the aperture and the PV cell surface using respectively a pyranometer and photodiodes at six different collector tilt angles of 0°, 10°, 20°, 30°, 40° and 52°. The analysis of the collected experimental data presented demonstrated that the V-trough system had a more even distribution of solar radiation than the CPC and a higher optical concentration ratio (ratio of solar radiation incident on the aperture cover to that incident on the receiver) though the geometrical concentration ratio of the two collectors was equal to 2.2x. Also, the V-trough concentrator had an electrical power output up to 17.2% higher than the CPC system at a 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 specific tilt angle of 30°. The V-trough had a consistently higher receiver plate temperature as it was reflecting larger quantities of solar radiation than the CPC. Over 17 consecutive typical summer days' similar performance was observed over the range of tilt angles studied. The development of V-trough concentrators should be preferred due to higher power production, reduced complexity, increased uniformity of illumination and lower manufacturing costs compared to CPCs. *Unmarked Revised Manuscript Click here to view linked References

Modelling and experimental analysis of low concentrating solar panels for use in building integrated and applied photovoltaic (BIPV/BAPV) systems

“…Similar studies were carried out by Singh et al [32]. They showed that for the V-trough and CPC systems with the same geometrical concentration ratio, the V-trough concentrator had an electrical power output up to 17.2% higher than the CPC system at a specific tilt angle of 30 and the V-trough had a consistently higher receiver plate temperature.…”

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

“…Zhou et al also evaluated the effect of non‐uniform energy flux distribution on the PV module with the CPC and reported that increasing non‐uniformity introduces more resistive losses, which leads to a significant attenuation in the PV module short‐circuit current. In another study, Singh et al analysed the effect of energy flux distribution on the performance of a PV module with the CPC (2.2×) and a V‐trough collector (2.2×) for different collector tilt angles (0°, 10°, 20°, 30°, 40°, and 52°). Experimental results showed that the V‐trough system had a more even solar radiation distribution and higher optical concentration ratio than the CPC.…”

Annual Prediction Output of an RADTIRC-PV Module

“…A small window incorporating the RACPCs was further constructed and from the experiments, the window achieved a power gain close to 3 when compared with the non-concentrating window [41]. Singh et al [42] compared the performance of two line-axis concentrator, a V-trough and compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) and found that the former outperformed the latter by producing 17.2% more electrical output. Bojić et al [43] evaluated three types of sea-shell trough concentrators and concluded that the optical efficiencies of these concentrators were highly dependent on the altitude of the sun ray incidence, i.e., each one was best suited for a specific location.…”