Recent developments on the flat-plate micro-concentrator module

Terao, A.; Pujol, Olivier; Daroczi, S.G.; Kaminar, N.R.; Smith, David D.; Swanson, R.M.; Benı́tez, Pablo; Álvarez, José Luis; Miñano, Juan C.

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2002.1190864

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…PV modules that receive highly localized irradiance may experience faster module degradation rates due to the excess current loss as determined by string matching with less illuminated cells. Therefore, we employ ray tracing to simulate the light distribution on solar panel as a function of time of day and year [16].…”

Section: B Three-dimensional Irradiance Ray-tracing Model Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design Considerations and Measured Performance of Nontracked Mirror-Augmented Photovoltaics

Lin

Peshek

Bruckman

et al. 2015

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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Costs associated with conventional photovoltaic (PV) installations (module manufacturing, mounts, wiring and installation labor, etc.) scale linearly with system area, and prudent design practices for increasing the light harvesting may significantly enhance the power output per unit area and cost per watt. The use of PV modules that have been augmented by the addition of a solar mirror provides an opportunity to improve light harvesting of a PV module and cost-per-watt considerations if the mirror is less expensive than the relative increase in power. In order to harvest greater insolation, an optimized design configuration between a flat-panel module and mirror is necessary for a fixed (nontracked) mirror-augmented photovoltaic (MAPV) system. A series of irradiance and energy harvest calculations were developed to screen various MAPV design configurations. We employed optical raytracing simulations to determine irradiance nonuniformities on the fixed MAPV system. The simulated results are compared with outdoor experimental field trial results. Over a three-month period of study, the fixed MAPV system produced 12% more power than an equivalent nonaugmented panel. An adjustable angle mounting system known as "time machine" was used to estimate yearly power production by adjusting the relative position of the MAPV system to represent varying times of the year. Current-voltage (I-V) curve tracing of test modules was performed during the field trials on augmented and nonaugmented modules for comparison. The experimental time machine result is in agreement with the irradiance simulation, which shows a gullwing curve of annual power output with peak production on the equinoxes and reduced production on the solstices.

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Section: B Three-dimensional Irradiance Ray-tracing Model Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design Considerations and Measured Performance of Nontracked Mirror-Augmented Photovoltaics

Lin

Peshek

Bruckman

et al. 2015

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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“…In the present study, F 1 and L 1 are chosen to achieve a total flux of at least 3 W and to obtain a height-width aspect ratio of 2:3. The parabolic surfaces of the reflector and SOE are plotted using [25,26] Terao et al [19], nonzero incident angles significantly lower the optical performance if they are sufficiently large. The uniformity of irradiances incident upon the chip surface is also of importance to the optical module function.…”

Section: Details Of the Optical Assembly Modulementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The optical efficiency is up to 90% at the center of the lens, and decreases towards the ring sawtooth structure of the lens. The optical efficiency of the TIR-R cockscomb structure is not good, which makes the cost of electricity generation using the module high [15][16][17][18][19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lens designs by ray tracing analyses for high-performance reflection optical modules

Lee

Lin

2010

J. Opt.

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Three kinds of novel optical modules are designed for high-efficiency light concentration. Each optical module consists of three components, namely a reflector, a second optical element (SOE) with a different parabolic profile and a concentrating lens. A concentrating lens with various profile designs is installed at the open end of the reflector to improve the uniformity of ray irradiances collected at the solar cell chip. An effective process for finding the optimum design for the geometries of these optical modules is presented to obtain good uniformity in ray irradiance distribution and high optical performance. The results of ray tracing simulations indicate that the optimum design is achieved based on the principle or the compromise of having the lowest value of the highest peak of ray irradiances and the highest optical performance. The optical module designed without a concentrating lens has a relatively high peak at the center of the circular irradiance distribution. The use of a Fresnel lens can impede the high peak effectively and achieve very good optical performance. Modules with spherical and aspherical concentrating lenses have irradiance peaks that are much higher than that of the Fresnel lens although their performance is negligibly higher than that of the Fresnel lens.

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Recent developments on the flat-plate micro-concentrator module

Cited by 2 publications

References 2 publications

Design Considerations and Measured Performance of Nontracked Mirror-Augmented Photovoltaics

Design Considerations and Measured Performance of Nontracked Mirror-Augmented Photovoltaics

Lens designs by ray tracing analyses for high-performance reflection optical modules

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