Parabolic dish photovoltaic concentrator development.

摘要

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and Tactical Fabs, Inc. (TFI) have fabricated a prototype parabolic dish photovoltaic (PV) concentrator system to demonstrate the functionality of this approach. A 1.5 m diameter parabolic dish was fabricated of a polyester/fiberglass composite, with a silvered polymer reflective surface. An innovative receiver cooling system used outward radial flow of cooling water in a narrow passage. This configuration matches the heat transfer capability of the cooling system to the flux profile on the PV receiver, minimizing temperature variations across the receiver. The photovoltaic cells used in the system were a new, TFI-proprietary design. Interleaved contacts form a bi-polar, rear-contact cell configuration. Because of the electrical contacts are made on the rear of the cells, cells can be close-packed to form receiver arrays of arbitrary shape and size. Optical testing of the dish concentrator was performed by SAIC, SERI, and Sandia National Labs. The dish concentrator, designed for solar thermal applications, had a tight focal spot but exhibited flux non-uniformities away from the focal plane. Thermal testing of the receiver cooling system was performed with excellent success. Single PV cells, 4-cell blocks, and 144-cell receiver modules were built and tested. The cells successfully demonstrated the TFI design concept, but due to cell processing problems their efficiency was very low. Sources of the processing problems were identified and solutions were proposed, but funding limitations precluded further cell production. Operation of the complete PV dish system was conducted, and the functionality of the system was demonstrated. However, low cell efficiencies and receiver plane flux non-uniformities caused the system performance to be very low. These problems are not generic to the concept, and solutions to them proposed. 6 refs., 75 figs., 2 tabs.