The Modeling of Concentrators for Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Ana Francisca Machado da Costa, Ricardo A. Marques Lameirinhas (), Catarina Pinho Correia Valério Bernardo, João Paulo Neto Torres and Marcelino Santos
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Ana Francisca Machado da Costa: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Ricardo A. Marques Lameirinhas: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Catarina Pinho Correia Valério Bernardo: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
João Paulo Neto Torres: Instituto de Telecomunicações, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Marcelino Santos: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-18

Abstract: Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems have emerged as a transformative technology that incorporates radiation concentrators into the photovoltaic system to enable radiation to be concentrated onto a receiver—the solar cells. Different concentrator configurations have different impacts on the performance of the solar photovoltaic system. This research work aims to analyze the impact of different concentrators, comparing and identifying the most efficient structures for capturing and concentrating solar energy. Aiming at a deep analysis and comparison among concentrators shapes, this research work presents a unique investigation and revision among different structures such as flat, triangular, LFR, and parabolic concentrators. Moreover, since, in the UV–visible–NIR region, metals’ reflectance varies with the incident wavelength, five metals were considered: aluminum, gold, platinum, copper, and silver. Additionally, the research focuses on studying the effects of parameters critical to the quality of the concentration on the power obtained and on the uniformity of the radiation distribution on the surface of the receiver, as well as on the number of solar rays that reach the receiver. The power on the receiver increases proportionally with the number of reflector concentrators in the system and their reflectance. For parabolic geometries, the optical efficiency is affected by the receiver’s shadow on the concentrator and, in the case of the LFR, by a non-ideal alignment of the reflectors in relation to the receiver. However, in parabolic concentrator geometries, uniformity is usually lower, since in these configurations, the radiation is focused on specific areas of the receiver, usually the central zone.

Keywords: CPV; photovoltaic cell; reflectance; solar concentrator; solar energy; SolTrace (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: 2024
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