Open AccessHigh-efficiency thin and compact concentrator photovoltaics with micro-solar cells directly attached to a lens array
Author(s) -
Nobuhiko Hayashi,
Daijiro Inoue,
Mitsuhiro Matsumoto,
Akio Matsushita,
Hiroshi Handa,
Youichirou Aya,
Tohru Nakagawa
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.23.00a594
Subject(s) - optics , concentrator , nonimaging optics , lens (geology) , materials science , photovoltaic system , photovoltaics , acceptance angle , optoelectronics , focal length , energy conversion efficiency , fresnel lens , solar energy , solar mirror , solar cell efficiency , reflection (computer programming) , solar cell , physics , electrical engineering , computer science , photovoltaic thermal hybrid solar collector , programming language , engineering
We propose a thin and compact concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) module, about 20 mm thick, one tenth thinner than those of conventional CPVs that are widely deployed for mega-solar systems, to broaden CPV application scenarios. We achieved an energy conversion efficiency of 37.1% at a module temperature of 25 °C under sunlight irradiation optimized for our module. Our CPV module has a lens array consisting of 10 mm-square unit lenses and micro solar cells that are directly attached to the lens array, to reduce the focal length of the concentrator and to reduce optical losses due to reflection. The optical loss of the lens in our module is about 9.0%, which is lower than that of conventional CPV modules with secondary optics. This low optical loss enables our CPV module to achieve a high energy conversion efficiency.