Innovative solar concentrator design: Parabolic cline collector

Abstract

A new concentrating optics has been designed with the aim of improving performance, in many solar applications, versus linear parabolic trough and parabolic dish. The new reflective optics is called Parabolic Cline Collector (PCC) and is characterized by a focal area of rectangular shape. This new type of solar collector allows reaching a concentration ratio from 400 to over 1000 suns and permits to set many important parameters of the optics for matching exactly the application needs. Since the focal image is quite uniform, the performance of the receiver or the secondary stage are improved; hence the proposed collector is suitable for thermal systems, with excellent performance in both solar heating and solar cooling applications. It is also appropriate to realize hybrid HCPVT (photo voltaic and thermal) systems with multi-junction cells, and to drive high performance photo-catalyzers for solar hydrogen production.