Optimised Line Axis Dielectric Asymmetric Compound Parabolic Photovoltaic Concentrator: An Optical Performance Analysis

摘要

Incorporation of solar concentrator into solar panels for excellent power output in cost effective way with less area used will boosts the application of photovoltaics into buildings. Dielectric asymmetric compound parabolic concentrators (DiACPC) are suitable option as static concentrator to work with seasonal variation of sun position and irradiation distribution. Dielectric material increases the range of acceptance angle of the concentrator. Total internal reflection of light within the dielectric material from the dielectric-air interface eliminates the reflection loss from the reflectors. However the transmission losses within the dielectric material will reduce the optical efficiency compared to non-dielectric counterpart. In this paper, the optical performance analysis of the non-imaging line-axis dielectric photovoltaic concentrator has been undertaken to optimise the system located at Edinburgh, UK (55° 55' N, 3°10' W). The design has been considered to incorporate with 6 mm wide "Saturn" solar cell as absorber. In house developed ray trace program has been used for these investigations. Study has been performed with asymmetric compound parabolic concentrator of dielectric material with three different acceptance angles (0, 55°), (0, 66°) and (0, 77°) to achieve geometrical concentration ratio (CR) of 2.82 after truncation. Angular acceptance, optical efficiency and energy distribution across the solar cell reveals that the DiACPC of acceptance angles 0° and 55° is the most suitable dielectric concentrator for Northern European location.