Optical Simulation and Experimental Verification of a Fresnel Solar Concentrator with a New Hybrid Second Optical Element

Abstract

Fresnel solar concentrator is one of the most common solar concentrators in solar applications. For high Fresnel concentrating PV or PV/T systems, the second optical element (SOE) is the key component for the high optical efficiency at a wider deflection angle, which is important for overcoming unavoidable errors from the tacking system, the Fresnel lens processing and installment technology, and so forth. In this paper, a new hybrid SOE was designed to match the Fresnel solar concentrator with the concentration ratio of 1090x. The ray-tracing technology was employed to indicate the optical properties. The simulation outcome showed that the Fresnel solar concentrator with the new hybrid SOE has a wider deflection angle scope with the high optical efficiency. Furthermore, the flux distribution with different deviation angles was also analyzed. In addition, the experiment of the Fresnel solar concentrator with the hybrid SOE under outdoor condition was carried out. The verifications from the electrical and thermal outputs were all made to analyze the optical efficiency comprehensively. The optical efficiency resulting from the experiment is found to be consistent with that from the simulation.

Effect of Tracking Error of Double-Axis Tracking Device on the Optical Performance of Solar Dish Concentrator

“…Among all those typical solar energy applications in medium-high temperature fields, the solar concentrator was commonly used in the abovementioned fields to collect the sunlight as heat source and provide heat source to the heat receiver because the solar radiation density received by the earth surface was low. There are four main types of solar concentrators: Fresnel concentrator [4,5], parabolic trough concentrator [6,7], tower heliostat [8,9], and parabolic dish concentrator [10][11][12]. The singledish concentrator could realize the high concentration ratio and high temperature so it is superior to other concentrators.…”