Highly Efficient Solar Laser Pumping Using a Solar Concentrator Combining a Fresnel Lens and Modified Parabolic Mirror

Zitao Cai, Changming Zhao, Ziyin Zhao, Xingyu Yao, Haiyang Zhang and Zilong Zhang
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Zitao Cai: School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, No. 5, South Street, Zhongguancun, Beijing 100081, China
Changming Zhao: School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, No. 5, South Street, Zhongguancun, Beijing 100081, China
Ziyin Zhao: School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, No. 5, South Street, Zhongguancun, Beijing 100081, China
Xingyu Yao: School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, No. 5, South Street, Zhongguancun, Beijing 100081, China
Haiyang Zhang: School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, No. 5, South Street, Zhongguancun, Beijing 100081, China
Zilong Zhang: School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, No. 5, South Street, Zhongguancun, Beijing 100081, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: Solar-pumped lasers (SPLs) allow direct solar-to-laser power conversion, and hence, provide an opportunity to harness a renewable energy source. Herein, we report significant improvements in end-side-pumped solar laser collection efficiency and beam brightness using a novel 1.5-m-diameter compound solar concentrator combining a Fresnel lens and modified parabolic mirror. A key component of this scheme is the off-axis-focused parabolic mirror. An original dual-parabolic pump cavity is another feature. To determine the dependence of the SPL performance on the distance between the focus and central axis of the modified parabolic mirror, several systems with different distances were optimized using TracePro and ASLD software. It was numerically calculated that end-side pumping a 5-mm-diameter, 22-mm-long Nd:YAG crystal rod would generate 74.6 W of continuous-wave solar laser power at a collection efficiency of 42.2 W/m 2 , i.e., 1.1 times greater than the previous record value. Considering the laser beam quality, a brightness figure of 0.063 W was obtained, which is higher than that of other multimode SPL designs with end-side pumping. Thus, our SPL concentrator offers the possibility of achieving a beam quality as high as that obtainable via side pumping, alongside highly efficient energy conversion, which is characteristic to end-side pumping.

Keywords: solar pumping; laser; parabolic mirror; Fresnel lens; solar concentrator; Nd:YAG (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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