Open AccessOptical investigation of a sun simulator for concentrator PV applications
Author(s) -
Christoph Rapp,
Volker Straub,
De Wet van Rooyen,
Wei Yi Thor,
Gerald Siefer,
Andreas W. Bett
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.23.0a1270
Subject(s) - solar simulator , optics , concentrator , ray tracing (physics) , photovoltaic system , irradiance , physics , photovoltaics , nonimaging optics , computer science , simulation , solar cell , optoelectronics , engineering , electrical engineering
In photovoltaics (PV), sun simulators are used to reproduce outdoor conditions in a lab environment such as irradiance level, light uniformity and spectral distribution. Concentrator (C)PV applications additionally require the sun simulators to provide rays with an angular distribution similar to that of the sun rays. However, different factors in CPV sun simulator setups make it difficult to achieve the perfect sun like angular distribution. This is mainly caused by the unavailability of appropriate light sources. Therefore, we investigated in this work, to which deviations such a non-ideal light source can lead and which impact is expected at the measurement of a CPV module. For this, two ray tracing models are presented - one for the simulation of natural sunrays, another one for the simulation of sun simulator conditions. The models are validated based on measurements and subsequently used to simulate the impact on a typical CPV module with silicone-on-glass Fresnel lenses. Here, significant deviations to outdoor conditions are found.