Optical Losses and Durability of Flawed Fresnel Lenses for Concentrated Photovoltaic Application
Alzahrani, M; Ahmed, A; Shanks, K; et al.Sundaram, S; Mallick, T
Date: 10 June 2020
Article
Journal
Materials Letters
Publisher
Elsevier
Publisher DOI
Abstract
Recycling optical devices and materials for solar concentrator devices is a relatively
unstudied area but one which is likely to grow in importance as we progress towards an
increasingly sustainable and minimum waste environment. As such, considerations into
major optical flaws are required. Here, we have investigated the durability ...
Recycling optical devices and materials for solar concentrator devices is a relatively
unstudied area but one which is likely to grow in importance as we progress towards an
increasingly sustainable and minimum waste environment. As such, considerations into
major optical flaws are required. Here, we have investigated the durability of a cracked
Silicon on Glass (SOG) Fresnel lens incorporated as the primary optical component in a
concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) application. Optical and electrical characterisations of
the flawed glass have been conducted to show the effect on the performance. The optical
characterisation has shown a drop of 3.2% in optical efficiency. As well, I-V and power
curves of cracked and non-cracked Fresnel lens were compared to shows a drop of 3.2%
in short circuit current (Isc) and power. The results have confirmed that the power loss is
directly related to only the area of the primary optic flawed, which has been calculated
through as a percentage of geometrical loss (a form of shadowing) which was estimated
to be 2.7% of the concentrator area. From the results, we can confirm that although the
performance has slightly declined for the significantly flawed Fresnel lens, there are no
other detrimental optical effects. The durability of such optics still needs to be tested, but
from these results, we recommend that similarly critically flawed optics can be utilised,
likely in non-demanding singular CPV units where < 5% loss is acceptable.
Engineering
Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy
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