Due to the dramatic advances in commercial multi-junction solar cells with 40% conversion efficiency, solar concentrator capable of delivering flux levels of hundreds to thousands of suns at high collective efficiency is the key factor for the success of novel Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV)...

A graphical method to estimate the efficiency of a solar concentrator used for heating and boiling liquids is described. The method involves the measuring of temperature of stagnated liquid in the absorber as a function of time at noon. The graphically estimated efficiency is within 5% of the...

A method for power generation combining a solar concentration system and a pneumatic power tube system in a large open pit is described. Solar energy is concentrated by a plurality of heliostat mirrors placed along the embankment of the pit, which tends to be spherical in contour. The pneumatic...

In the concentrated solar power system, the mirror facets of the solar concentrator have to be aligned correctly in order to obtain an optimally focused solar flux at the receiver. In mirror assembly, therefore, it is necessary to develop an accurate, inexpensive and fast measurement method to...

The surface shape and optical quality of the solar concentrators have a great influence on the solar power plant efficiency, and there need an accurate, inexpensive and fast tool to do this measurement work at the plant start up and during operation. The development of the measurement methods of...

This paper describes a novel type of solar concentrator – a rotationally asymmetrical compound parabolic concentrator (RACPC). The RACPC aims at addressing the following objectives: (i) to increase the electrical output of a concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system by providing sufficient...

This paper presents a mirror symmetrical dielectric totally internally reflecting concentrator (MSDTIRC). Here, its electrical and optical performances are investigated for building integrated photovoltaic applications. This concentrator is designed to tackle two issues: (i) providing sufficient...

This paper describes a novel type of solar concentrator – a mirror symmetrical dielectric totally internally reflecting concentrator (MSDTIRC). This new concentrator type has been designed to satisfy the following objectives: (i) to provide optimum gain in two different planes, therefore...

When a new design for a solar collector is developed it is necessary to guarantee that its intercept factor is good enough to produce the expected thermal jump. This factor is directly related with the fidelity of the trough geometry with respect to its theoretical design shape. This paper shows...