Optical design and characterization of solar concentrators. Natural sunlight is collected by a primary concentrator which is a 2 m. The solar cells are typically some of the most expensive parts of an installed solar panel. Heliostat field collector hfc point 1001500 1502000 twoaxes parabolic dish reflector pdr point 100 100500 tracking. Amorphous solar cells might dont produce as much power as. In france, for example, the largest solar furnace, with paraboloidal solar concentrators 54 m in diameter, began operation in 1968. In section 3 three technical concepts of high temperature solar concentrators are presented. Expected optical performance of novel type multielement high. Solar concentrator is the most favourable solution to this problem 10. The use of solar energy requires optimizing each part of a photovoltaic system. Solar concentrating systems can also be used to power desalination systems, either by directly providing heat energy or via conversion to electrical energy. Solar concentrators utilize optical devices which absorb a large area of sunlight. Later in 1878 a parabolic collector was showcased and reected.
It is important to note that with a single collector, it is always possible to. Concentration of radiation aims at increasing the energy density e of the radiant energy, in order to allow a better use of it. There are many possible uses for solar concentrators. These photovoltaic pv cells convert the light into electricityclean, homegrown, and pollution freethat we can use to run our appliances or light our homes. If youve installed solar panels on your roof, chances are you did it more to help the environment than to save money on your power bill. A conceptual representation of a solar concentrator used in harnessing the power.
Solar power csp the concept of harnessing the sunos energy dates back as far as 1774 when antoine lavoisier created a large device that had a glass lens that focused the sunlight into a focal point over material for combustion. Greg schmidt, research engineer at the institute of optics, explains how light guide solar concentrators are designed to direct and concentrate sunlight in o. Structural concepts for large solar concentrators john m. Msu doctoral student yimu zhao holds up a transparent luminescent solar concentrator module. Solar concentrator article about solar concentrator by the. A luminescent solar concentrator lsc is a device for concentrating radiation, solar radiation in particular, to produce electricity.
Solar concentrators developments scholarlink research. A new take on an existing solarpower technology could change that. The study found that concentrated solar power could account for up to 25% of the worlds energy needs by 2050. The expected optical performance of rac exceeding that of dishparabolic mirrors and simultaneously improving the operation performances and manufacture allowance prompt for considering the design as an ultimate improvement of reflective solar optics. Concentration ratio is defined as the aperture area divided by the receiverabsorber area of the collector. Then the light is directed into optical fiber through which solar energy travels into a small space to achieve hightemperature concentration. It will also analyse on some of the existing solar concentrators used in the solar technology for the past four decades. Parabolas have the unique property of reflecting incoming light to a central focal point, thereby concentrating it. Jul 31, 2015 solar concentrators use mirrors and lenses to capture light and direct it towards smaller areas of photovoltaic pv material where the solar energy is converted into electricity 1.
Solar concentrators use mirrors and lenses to capture light and direct it towards smaller areas of photovoltaic pv material where the solar energy is. Optical design and characterization of solar concentrators for photovoltaics 4 ruption of the translational symmetry when the microstructured reflectors were introduced. With the current cost of solar technology, it can take many years to even start to recoup your investment. This type of solar concentrator can collect a temperature of more than 800c, which is an innovative developing concentration technology. Luminescent solar concentrators operate on the principle of collecting radiation over a large area, converting it by luminescence specifically by fluorescence and directing the generated radiation into a relatively small output target. The primary concentrators of a solar concentrator system are those parts that first receive the solar irradiation, and first concentrate it. Classification of solar collectors depending of number of covers in fig. Jul 10, 2008 solar cells are packaged into solar panels, which can be installed on rooftops or large fields. This is ideal in space, where the sun is a single light source. Department of energy to study exciton circuitry in plants how plants capture light in packets of energy and direct the energy to where its needed. May 19, 2009 in addition to solar concentrators, baldo is researching biological models for making solar cells more efficient.
Design and analysis of a highefficiency, costeffective. Spain is the leader in concentrated solar power technology, with more than 50 governmentapproved projects in the works. White butterflies as solar photovoltaic concentrators. Mit solar concentrator improves solar cell efficiency and. The design and performance of each concentrator will be. Similar paraboloidal solar concentrators were constructed in france, the usa, and japan. New type of solar concentrator doesnt block the view. Comparison of solar concentrators ari rabl solar energy group, argonne national laboratory, argonne, il 60439, u. The solar concentrators also have the advantage that the solar cells can be spaced farther apart since light can be focused on each cell. Consider accordant literature where gathered information about five mine types of solar collectors described below.
Miller astro aerospace corporation carpinteria, cazifornia prepared for langley research center under contract nas 1 175 36 nasa national aeronautics and space administration scientific and technical information office 1987. Ray tracing study to determine the characteristics of the. Solar energy conversion and photoenergy systems high temperature solar concentrators robert pitzpaal surface area. Abstract solar radiation has been identified as the largest renewable resource on earth. Could luminescent solar concentrators make solar power more. More bang for your buck solar concentrators do what you might expect, concentrate solar. Printed in great britain comparison of solar concentrators ari rabl solar energy group, argonne national laboratory, argonne, il 60439, u. The performance of biracial solar cells in static solar concentrators i. A conceptual representation of a solar concentrator used in harnessing the power from the sun to generate electricity is shown in figure 1. A parabolic solar concentrator is a curved array of mirrors that reflects all incident light onto a single point. We have developed unique solar concentrators for solarpumped solidstate lasers to improve both efficiency and laser output power. Skyline solar, a new startup, is combining conventional technologies to lower solar power costs.
Luminescent solar concentrators explained mit energy initiative. In this type of solar concentrators, the mirrors are used to reflect radiation to the absorber plate. Sep 29, 2014 greg schmidt, research engineer at the institute of optics, explains how light guide solar concentrators are designed to direct and concentrate sunlight in o. This can be either a heat absorber to harvest thermal energy or a photovoltaic cell to convert light to electric energy. Hi friends, in this article, i am going to discuss about types of concentrating solar collectors and hope you will find it useful. A new solar concentrator design from an electrical engineering ph. Skyline solar, a new startup, is combining conventional technologies to lower solarpower costs. A distinct property that it has is that it can focus all the parallel rays from the sun to a single focus point, f as shown in figure 2. Pdf for efficient and cost effective utilization solar energy solar concentrators are vital.
Linear solar concentrators use troughshaped mirrors to reflect the sunlight onto a pipe containing a fluid. Luminescent solar concentrators lscs are costeffective components easily integrated in photovoltaics pv that can enhance solar cells performance and promote the integration of pv architectural elements into buildings, with unprecedented possibilities for energy harvesting in facade design, urban furnishings and wearable fabrics. The performance of biracial solar cells in static solar. Lowcost concentrating solar collector for steam generation. They function on the idea of focusing a bundle of sunlight on a small area with the assistance of a mirror or optical equipment. Most concentrators follow the sun as it crosses the sky, either. The design and performance of each concentrator will be explained and compared. Aug 19, 2014 new type of solar concentrator doesnt block the view by michigan state university solar power with a view.
Small concentrators generate heat for cooking and domestic hot water. It is widely used as a reflecting solar concentrator. Solar concentrators collect light over large areas and focus it onto smaller areas of solar cells. Lowcost concentrating solar collector for steam generation by john dascomb a thesis submitted to the department of mechanical engineering in partial ful llment of the requirements for the degree of master of science degree awarded. Types of concentrating solar collectors your electrical. In the ussr the first large solar concentrator, in the form of a paraboloid 10 m in diameter, was built in 1946 in tashkent. The solarbeamtm concentrator is the most efficient. The increase in investment would be from 2 billion worldwide to 92.
A generic concentrator see figure 1 consists of a concentrator entrance aperture area. Prospect and challenges abdulrahim abdulbaqi toyin department of mechanical engineering, university of maiduguri, nigeria. Osa development of solar concentrators for highpower solar. Edmonds department of physics, queensland university of technologp, brisbane, australia with suitable optics to bring radiation onto bifacial solar cells the power output per unit area of. It is quite simple in design and has a good concentration ratio. Concentrators work best when there is a single source of light and the concentrator can be pointed right at it. The final solar panel and stand was built at the university of western sydney. It was concluded that structured reflectors are used at their largest benefit if they are applied in new concentrators designed for structures. Solar concentrators an overview sciencedirect topics.
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