Performance and Design Optimization of Two-Mirror Composite Concentrating PV Systems

Guihua Li, Yamei Yu and Runsheng Tang
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Guihua Li: Library of Chenggong Campus, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
Yamei Yu: Education Ministry Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology and Preparation for Renewable Energy Materials, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
Runsheng Tang: Education Ministry Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology and Preparation for Renewable Energy Materials, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-23

Abstract: The reflectors of a linear solar concentrator investigated in this work consisted of two plane mirrors (2MCC), and they were designed in such a way that made all radiation within the acceptance angle ( θ a ) arrive on flat-plate absorber, after less than two reflections. To investigate the performance of an east–west aligned 2MCC-based photovoltaic (PV) system (2MCPV), a mathematical procedure was suggested based on the three-dimensional radiation transfer and was validated by the ray-tracing analysis. Analysis indicated that the performance of 2MCPV was dependent on the geometry of 2MCC, the reflectivity of mirrors ( ρ ), and solar resources in a site, thus, given θ a , an optimal geometry of 2MCC for maximizing the annual collectible radiation (ACR) and annual electricity generation (AEG) of 2MCPV in a site could be respectively found through iterative calculations. Calculation results showed that when the ρ was high, the optimal design of 2MCC for maximizing its geometric concentration ( C g ) could be utilized for maximizing the ACR and AEG of 2MCPV. As compared to similar compound parabolic concentrator (CPC)-based PV systems, the 2MCPV with the tilt-angle of the aperture yearly fixed (1T-2MCPV), annually generated more electricity when the ρ was high; and the one with the tilt-angle adjusted yearly four times at three tilts (3T-2MCPV), performed better when θ a < 25° and ρ > 0.7, even in sites with poor solar resources.

Keywords: two-mirror composite solar concentrator; mathematical model; optical and photovoltaic performance; design optimization (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: 2020
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