Paper
5 September 2014 Decentralized nonimaging micro-optical concentrator
Tian Gu, William C. Sweatt, Gautam Agrawal, Bradley H. Jared, Ben J. Anderson, Ron S. Goeke, Brenton Elisberg, Scott M. Paap, Jose Luis Cruz-Campa, Vipin Gupta, Murat Okandan, Gregory N. Nielson, Michael W. Haney
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
A novel non-imaging micro-concentrator concept and its development in Sandia National Lab’s microsystems-enabled photovoltaics (MEPV) program are described in this paper. Key notions of the compact 2-element optical concentrator are toroidal lens surfaces that decentralize the focused beam and a reflective cone structure that enhances light collection and illumination onto micro-scale solar cells (e.g., ~100’s microns in diameter). The optical configuration therefore provides a low-intensity, hot-spot-free illumination pattern on the receiver while achieving a concentration-acceptance angle product (CAP) over 1. Designs taking into account practical factors (such as fabrication capabilities, misalignments) achieve a 400X geometric concentration with a ±2.4° (90% of peak) acceptance angle (CAP = 0.84) and a 600X geometric concentration with a ±2° acceptance angle (CAP = 0.85), allowing low cost, mass production using injection molding. Development and experimental evaluation of a baseline prototype module is also described.
© (2014) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Tian Gu, William C. Sweatt, Gautam Agrawal, Bradley H. Jared, Ben J. Anderson, Ron S. Goeke, Brenton Elisberg, Scott M. Paap, Jose Luis Cruz-Campa, Vipin Gupta, Murat Okandan, Gregory N. Nielson, and Michael W. Haney "Decentralized nonimaging micro-optical concentrator", Proc. SPIE 9191, Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration XI, 91910G (5 September 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2062286
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CITATIONS
Cited by 4 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Solar cells

Solar concentrators

Optical components

Reflectivity

Transmittance

Optical design

Prototyping

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