New Curved Reflectors for Significantly Enhanced Solar Power Generation in Four Seasons

Jin S. Choi, Byeong G. Choi, Ji H. Kim, Seung-Tak Ryu, Chun T. Rim and Yun-Su Kim
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Jin S. Choi: School of Electrical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Korea
Byeong G. Choi: School of Electrical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Korea
Ji H. Kim: School of Electrical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Korea
Seung-Tak Ryu: School of Electrical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Korea
Chun T. Rim: School of Integrated Technology, GIST, Gwangju 61005, Korea
Yun-Su Kim: School of Integrated Technology, GIST, Gwangju 61005, Korea

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-13

Abstract: A new curved-type reflector for solar power generation is proposed. By adopting the curved-type reflector between consecutive solar panel arrays, all incoming sunlight can be utilized and thus, the generated power is significantly increased. Furthermore, the proposed curved-type reflector can be generally used in four seasons regardless of the altitude or angle of the installation environment. The optimum design rule for the curved-reflector, comparing to a plane-type reflector, is completely developed in this paper. A new solar cell configuration best fit for the proposed curved-reflector is also provided. Experimental results showed that the curved-type reflector improves the spatial average solar power by 61% compared to no reflector case, which is even 11% higher than the plane-type reflector. Reflectors, especially curved-type reflectors, are found to be one of promising solutions for highly efficient solar power generation.

Keywords: solar power generation; plane-type reflector; curved-type reflector (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: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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