Parametric Study of Solar Concentrator Composed of a Flat Fresnel Lens and a Reflective Secondary Optical Element

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.

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Design and Evaluation of the Fresnel-Lens Based Solar Concentrator System Through a Statistical-Algorithmic Approach

Volume 8B: Heat Transfer and Thermal Engineering ◽

10.1115/imece2018-87023 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hassan Qandil ◽

Weihuan Zhao

Keyword(s):

High Temperature ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Incident Light ◽

Thermal Analyses ◽

Solar Spectrum ◽

Chromatic Aberration ◽

Fresnel Lens ◽

Optimum Number ◽

Solar Concentrator ◽

Receiver System

A novel non-imaging Fresnel-lens-based solar concentrator-receiver system has been investigated to achieve high-efficiency photon and heat outputs with minimized effect of chromatic aberrations. Two types of non-imaging Fresnel lenses, a spot-flat lens and a dome-shaped lens, are designed through a statistical algorithm incorporated in MATLAB. The algorithm optimizes the lens design via a statistical ray-tracing methodology of the incident light, considering the chromatic aberration of solar spectrum, the lens-receiver spacing and aperture sizes, and the optimum number of prism grooves. An equal-groove-width of the Poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) prisms is adopted in the model. The main target is to maximize ray intensity on the receiver’s aperture, and therefore, achieve the highest possible heat flux and output concentration temperature. The algorithm outputs prism and system geometries of the Fresnel-lens concentrator. The lenses coupled with solar receivers are simulated by COMSOL Multiphysics. It combines both optical and thermal analyses for the lens and receiver to study the optimum lens structure for high solar flux output. The optimized solar concentrator-receiver system can be applied to various devices which require high temperature inputs, such as concentrated photovoltaics (CPV), high-temperature stirling engine, etc.

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Optical Performance of Single Point-Focus Fresnel Lens Concentrator System for Multiple Multi-Junction Solar Cells—A Numerical Study

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14144301 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (14) ◽

pp. 4301

Author(s):

Yassir A. Alamri ◽

Saad Mahmoud ◽

Raya Al-Dadah ◽

Shivangi Sharma ◽

J. N. Roy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Numerical Study ◽

Single Point ◽

Optical Element ◽

Fresnel Lens ◽

Electrical Performance ◽

High Concentration ◽

Three Dimensional Model ◽

Optical Efficiency ◽

Concave Lens

This paper investigates the potential of a new integrated solar concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system that uses a solo point focus Fresnel lens for multiple multi-junction solar cells (MJSCs). The proposed system comprises of an FL concentrator as the primary optical element, a multi-leg homogeniser as the secondary optical element (SOE), a plano-concave lens, and four MJSCs. A three-dimensional model of this system was developed using the ray tracing method to predict the influence of aperture width, height, and position with respect to MJSCs of different reflective and refractive SOE on the overall optical efficiency of the system and the irradiance uniformity achieved on the MJSCs’ surfaces. The results show that the refractive homogeniser using N-BK7 glass can achieve higher optical efficiency (79%) compared to the reflective homogeniser (57.5%). In addition, the peak to average ratio of illumination at MJSCs for the reflective homogeniser ranges from 1.07 to 1.14, while for the refractive homogeniser, it ranges from 1.06 to 1.34, causing minimum effects on the electrical performance of the MJSCs. The novelty of this paper is the development of a high concentration CPV system that integrates multiple MJSCs with a uniform distribution of rays, unlike the conventional CPV systems that utilise a single concentrator onto a single MJSC. The optical efficiency of the CPV system was also examined using both the types of homogeniser (reflective and refractive).

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