Simulation and Experimental Study on the Optical Performance of a Fixed-Focus Fresnel Lens Solar Concentrator Using Polar-Axis Tracking

Hai Wang, Jin Huang, Mengjie Song, Yanxin Hu, Yunfeng Wang and Zijian Lu
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Hai Wang: Department of Energy Engineering, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Jin Huang: Department of Energy Engineering, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Mengjie Song: Department of Human and Engineered Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 277-8563, Japan
Yanxin Hu: Department of Energy Engineering, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Yunfeng Wang: Solar Energy Research Institute, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650092, China
Zijian Lu: Department of Energy Engineering, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: Most sun-tracking systems of solar concentrators are expensive, sensitive to operational costs, and complicated in optical design in which the receiver must be free to rotate about the axis. To overcome the aforementioned problems, this study presents a fixed-focus Fresnel lens solar concentrator (FFFSC) using polar-axis tracking which allows the Fresnel lens to concentrate sunlight to a fixed small heat-receiving area and the receiver remained fixed in location and rotation. Experimental research has been conducted to obtain the optical characteristics of the FFFSC for different solar times, tracking errors, and periodical adjustment errors. It has been found that maximum values of the relative optical efficiency loss ( ? re-opt , loss ) and minimum value of the optical efficiency ( ? opt ) of the FFFSC for different solar times are 1.87% and 71.61%, respectively. The mean value and maximum value of the local concentration ratio of the solar flux on the receiver are more than 86.64 and 1319.43, respectively. When the tracking error and periodical adjustment error are within 1°, the ? opt of the FFFSC can reach 70.38% and 68.94%, respectively. The optical characteristics of FFFSC is also verified numerically. Especially, according to the total year simulation of the FFFSC’s optical characteristics, maximum value of ? re-opt , loss is 0.116%, which means the proposed the FFFSC can achieve fixed-focus.

Keywords: solar energy; fixed-focus; polar-axis tracking; Fresnel lens; optical efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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