The design of a parabolic reflector system with high tracking tolerance for high solar concentration

Abstract

A compact high concentrating photovoltaic (HCPV) module based on cassegrain optics is proposed; consisting of a primary parabolic reflector, secondary reflector and homogeniser. The effect of parabolic curvatures, reflector separation distance and the homogeniser's height and width on the tracking tolerance has been investigated for optimisation. In this type of HCPV, the addition of a solid transparent homogeniser to the two stage reflector design greatly improves the tracking tolerance. Optical simulation studies show high optical efficiencies of 84.82-81.89 % over a range of ± degree tracking error and 55.49% at a tracking error of ±1.5 degrees.