Using Static Concentrator Technology to Achieve Global Energy Goal

Alamoudi, Abdullah; Saaduddin, Syed Muhammad; Munir, Abu Bakar; Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus; Abu-Bakar, Siti Hawa; Mohd Yasin, Siti Hajar; Karim, Ridoan; Bani, Nurul Aini; Mas�ud, Abdullahi; Ardila-Rey, Jorge Alfredo; Prabhu, Radhakrishna; Sellami, Nazmi

Abstract

Solar energy has demonstrated promising prospects in satisfying energy requirements, specifically through solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. Despite that, the cost of installation is deemed as the main hurdle to the widespread uptake of solar PV systems due to the use of expensive PV material in the module. At this point, we argue that a reduction in PV cost could be achieved through the usage of concentrator—which are commonly produced from polymers. A solar concentrator is a type of lens that is capable of increasing the collection of sun rays and focusing them onto a lesser PV area. The cost of the solar module could then be reduced on the assumption that the cost of introducing the solar concentrator in the solar module design is much lower than the cost of the removed PV material. Static concentrators, in particular, have great promise due to their ability to be integrated at any place of the building, usually on the building facade, windows and roof, due to their low geometrical concentration. This paper provides a historic context on the development of solar concentrators and showcases the latest technological development in static photovoltaic concentrators including non-imaging compound parabolic concentrator, V-trough, luminescent solar concentrator and quantum dot concentrator. We anticipated that the static low concentrating PV (LCPV) system could serve to enhance the penetration of PV technology in the long run to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7—to open an avenue to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030.

Citation

Alamoudi, A., Saaduddin, S. M., Munir, A. B., Muhammad-Sukki, F., Abu-Bakar, S. H., Mohd Yasin, S. H., Karim, R., Bani, N. A., Mas’ud, A., Ardila-Rey, J. A., Prabhu, R., & Sellami, N. (2019). Using Static Concentrator Technology to Achieve Global Energy Goal. Sustainability, 11(11), Article 3056. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113056

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 28, 2019
• Online Publication Date: May 30, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019
• Deposit Date: Nov 24, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 25, 2020
• Journal: Sustainability
• Electronic ISSN: 2071-1050
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 11
• Article Number: 3056
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113056
• Keywords: Solar energy, Solar photovoltaic, Solar concentrator, Energy
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2703094
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/11/3056