Solar concentrators rensselaer polytechnic institute. Lowcost concentrating solar collector for steam generation. The solar concentrators also have the advantage that the solar cells can be spaced farther apart since light can be focused on each cell. Greg schmidt, research engineer at the institute of optics, explains how light guide solar concentrators are designed to direct and concentrate sunlight in o. They function on the idea of focusing a bundle of sunlight on a small area with the assistance of a mirror or optical equipment. Aug 19, 2014 new type of solar concentrator doesnt block the view by michigan state university solar power with a view. Solar concentrators developments scholarlink research. 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 solar cells are typically some of the most expensive parts of an installed solar panel. Natural sunlight is collected by a primary concentrator which is a 2 m. Mit solar concentrator improves solar cell efficiency and.
The design and performance of each concentrator will be explained and compared. 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. Expected optical performance of novel type multielement high. Concentration of radiation aims at increasing the energy density e of the radiant energy, in order to allow a better use of it. Types of concentrating solar collectors your electrical. Pdf for efficient and cost effective utilization solar energy solar concentrators are vital. It is important to note that with a single collector, it is always possible to. Solar concentrator article about solar concentrator by the. This type of solar concentrator can collect a temperature of more than 800c, which is an innovative developing concentration technology. Optical design and characterization of solar concentrators for photovoltaics 4 ruption of the translational symmetry when the microstructured reflectors were introduced.
The final solar panel and stand was built at the university of western sydney. Could luminescent solar concentrators make solar power more. Solar concentrator is the most favourable solution to this problem 10. Ray tracing study to determine the characteristics of the. It is quite simple in design and has a good concentration ratio. Linear solar concentrators alternative energy primer. Optical design and characterization of solar concentrators. 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. The primary concentrators of a solar concentrator system are those parts that first receive the solar irradiation, and first concentrate it. Spain is the leader in concentrated solar power technology, with more than 50 governmentapproved projects in the works. There are many possible uses for solar concentrators. Jul 10, 2008 solar cells are packaged into solar panels, which can be installed on rooftops or large fields. 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.
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. Hi friends, in this article, i am going to discuss about types of concentrating solar collectors and hope you will find it useful. A conceptual representation of a solar concentrator used in harnessing the power from the sun to generate electricity is shown in figure 1. Linear solar concentrators use troughshaped mirrors to reflect the sunlight onto a pipe containing a fluid.
The solarbeamtm concentrator is the most efficient. Solar concentrating systems can also be used to power desalination systems, either by directly providing heat energy or via conversion to electrical energy. This is ideal in space, where the sun is a single light source. Concentrators work best when there is a single source of light and the concentrator can be pointed right at it. 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. In this type of solar concentrators, the mirrors are used to reflect radiation to the absorber plate. Solar concentrators utilize optical devices which absorb a large area of sunlight. Concentration ratio is defined as the aperture area divided by the receiverabsorber area of the collector. Consider accordant literature where gathered information about five mine types of solar collectors described below. A generic concentrator see figure 1 consists of a concentrator entrance aperture area. Similar paraboloidal solar concentrators were constructed in france, the usa, and japan. Comparison of solar concentrators ari rabl solar energy group, argonne national laboratory, argonne, il 60439, u. Parabolas have the unique property of reflecting incoming light to a central focal point, thereby concentrating it. 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.
Flat plate concentrators with plane reflectors and adjustable mirrors. May 19, 2009 in addition to solar concentrators, baldo is researching biological models for making solar cells more efficient. Small concentrators generate heat for cooking and domestic hot water. Later in 1878 a parabolic collector was showcased and reected. It is widely used as a reflecting solar concentrator. Skyline solar, a new startup, is combining conventional technologies to lower solarpower costs. Prospect and challenges abdulrahim abdulbaqi toyin department of mechanical engineering, university of maiduguri, nigeria. Jul 10, 2008 mit solar concentrator improves solar cell efficiency and design options mit solar concentrator innovation. Structural concepts for large solar concentrators john m. It will also analyse on some of the existing solar concentrators used in the solar technology for the past four decades.
Solar energy conversion and photoenergy systems high temperature solar concentrators robert pitzpaal surface area. Amorphous solar cells might dont produce as much power as. The performance of biracial solar cells in static solar concentrators i. In section 3 three technical concepts of high temperature solar concentrators are presented. Skyline solar, a new startup, is combining conventional technologies to lower solar power costs. New type of solar concentrator doesnt block the view. Solar concentrators use mirrors and lenses to capture light and direct it towards smaller areas of photovoltaic pv material where the solar energy is. This significantly magnifies the power of the sun, generating intense amounts of heat. The study found that concentrated solar power could account for up to 25% of the worlds energy needs by 2050. Classification of solar collectors depending of number of covers in fig.
Most concentrators follow the sun as it crosses the sky, either. 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. 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. 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. Luminescent solar concentrators explained mit energy initiative. Printed in great britain comparison of solar concentrators ari rabl solar energy group, argonne national laboratory, argonne, il 60439, u. 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. Solar concentrators collect light over large areas and focus it onto smaller areas of solar cells. Then the light is directed into optical fiber through which solar energy travels into a small space to achieve hightemperature concentration. The use of solar energy requires optimizing each part of a photovoltaic system. With the current cost of solar technology, it can take many years to even start to recoup your investment. The increase in investment would be from 2 billion worldwide to 92.
This can be either a heat absorber to harvest thermal energy or a photovoltaic cell to convert light to electric energy. The performance of biracial solar cells in static solar. A new take on an existing solarpower technology could change that. A luminescent solar concentrator lsc is a device for concentrating radiation, solar radiation in particular, to produce electricity. 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. 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 design and performance of each concentrator will be. It will consist of two 4watt amorphous solar panels connected in series to obtain output voltage and output current readings of each result with respect to the tests. A parabolic solar concentrator is a curved array of mirrors that reflects all incident light onto a single point. Heliostat field collector hfc point 1001500 1502000 twoaxes parabolic dish reflector pdr point 100 100500 tracking.
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