Solar energy: cheaper solar concentrator with fewer photovoltaic cells

ScienceDaily (Apr. 22, 2010) - a new solar concentrator design from a Ph.d student of electrical engineering at the University of California, San Diego could solar concentrators, less expensive and require fewer photovoltaic cells than existing solar concentrators. The graduate student, Jason Karp and his colleagues at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of engineering presented the new solar concentrator in a paper in the January 2010 issue of the magazine Optics Express.

While engineers have developed already high efficiency of solar concentrators, the Sun focus optics to integrate hundreds of times and can deliver the power of the rigid solar panels twice the new design offers potential new benefits. Existing solar concentrator systems use typically arrays of single lenses to concentrate, which all must be aligned and bonded directly on independent photovoltaic cells.On the other hand the new solar concentrator collects on the sunlight with thousands of small lenses, a common sheet aufgedruckt.Alle this lenses couple in an apartment "Waveguide" light on a single photovoltaic cell funnel.

Karp built a working prototype with only two primary optical components which materials, alignment and mounting. This solar concentrator is compatible with high-volume, low cost production.

Karp "Is the real reason that we try this type of concentrator, certainly for costs," said in an interview after winning best poster at the research Expo 2010 UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.Karp declared that its design the cost of the optical system, the the entire system associated minimiert.Ein building look very cheap trail engineers to existing production techniques. The new solar concentrator is compatible with existing role-to role processing techniques, large TV involved production.

Karp designed and built by prototypes for the new solar concentrator in the Photonic systems integration Laboratory headed by Professor Joseph Ford electrical engineering from UC San Diego Jacobs School of engineering.

April 15 won Karp and his solar concentrator 2010 Rudee research Expo outstanding poster award at 29th annual research Expo at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of engineering.The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the California Energy (CEC) provided some funding for this research.

Story source:

The above story is made of materials by the University of California - San Diego, provided through EurekAlert fulù (with editorial adjustments of ScienceDaily staff)!, a service of AAAS.

Journal reference:

Karp et al. Planar micro optics - solar concentrator .Optik Express, 2010; 18 (2): 1122 DOI: 10.1364/OE.18.001122

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