Optical efficiency study of PV crossed compound parabolic concentrator

Sellami, Nazmi; Mallick, Tapas K.

Abstract

Static solar concentrators present a solution to the challenge of reducing the cost of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) by reducing the area of solar cells. In this study a 3-D ray trace code has been developed using MATLAB in order to determine the theoretical optical efficiency and the optical flux distribution at the photovoltaic cell of a 3-D Crossed Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CCPC) for different incidence angles of light rays. It was found that the CCPC with a concentration ratio of 3.6× represents an improved geometry compared to a 3-D Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) for the use as a static solar concentrator. The CCPC has a maximum optical efficiency of 95%, in line with the optical efficiency of the 3-D CPC, with the added advantage of having a square entry and exit aperture. A series of preliminary experimental measurements were taken on a setup of nine solar cells. The experimental results provide validation of the MATLAB code developed, showing a deviation of 12 ± 2% from the simulation results, thus confirming that the code can be used to investigate different concentration ratios of the CCPC.

Citation

Sellami, N., & Mallick, T. K. (2013). Optical efficiency study of PV crossed compound parabolic concentrator. Applied Energy, 102, 868-876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.08.052

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 29, 2012
• Online Publication Date: Oct 6, 2012
• Publication Date: 2013-02
• Deposit Date: Dec 12, 2021
• Journal: Applied Energy
• Print ISSN: 0306-2619
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 102
• Pages: 868-876
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.08.052
• Keywords: CPC, Building integration, Photovoltaics, Optical modelling, Ray trace
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2818267