Development of a secondary collector for an existing solar trough

Year: 2014

Authors: Giannuzzi A., Sansoni P., Pierucci G., Francini F., Sani E., Mercatelli L., Jafrancesco D., Fontani D.

Autors Affiliation: CNR-INO National Institute of Optics, Firenze, Italy; Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Astronomia, Bologna, Italy; Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Energetica, Firenze, Italy

Abstract: Maximizing the optical collection efficiency of a linear concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system implies to provide a uniform illumination over the cells array, even when an off-axis sun tracking angle occurs. Moreover, the small cells’ size imposes severe requirements on the dimensions of the linear sun image. In contrast optical aberrations, solar divergence effects, mechanical strains, and incorrect tracking contribute to spread the concentrated light and to shift the image position. A secondary optic device was especially designed and optimized to convert a medium concentration parabolic trough originally designed to be a single-stage system into a double stage. The additional element design has to face the rigid constraints imposed by the preexistent main collector. Despite this limitation, its introduction guarantees a suitable lighting on the cells in a range within ±0.5° of tracking angle misalignment, consistent with the system tracking errors observed during the first test operations.

Conference title: 2013 International Conference on Future Energy, Environment and Materials (FEEM 2013)
Place: Hong Kong China – December 24-25 2013

KeyWords: Aberrations; Optical design, Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV); Mechanical strain; Optical collection efficiency; Rigid constraint; Secondary optics; Single stage system; Trough; Uniform illumination, Solar power generation
DOI: 10.2495/FEEM20130421

Citations: 1
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