Optical component analysis for ultrahigh concentrated photovoltaic system (UHCPV)

Abstract

This article investigates the discrepancy between the theoretical and the experimental optical characterisation results of a Fresnel Lens - silicon on glass (SOG), as a primary optical component toward UHCPV of >3000 suns design (Shanks et al., 2018). All the equations were elaborated for single- and multi-junction solar cells, emphasising the performance when the focal spot area is larger or lesser than the solar cell area. This simple prediction approach of optical characterisation has shown a strong agreement between the theoretical and experimental results of the multi-junction solar cell with a discrepancy of 2% at 7.7 W (77 suns) and 6% on the average cross a solar irradiance on the cell from 3.1 W to 7.7 W corresponding to 31 suns – 77 suns in concentration ratio. A theoretical analysis of the optical performance for a 1/4 of the system grouping three optical interfaces is performed to estimate the optical loss and its influence on the optical efficiency and optical concentration ratio.