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Advances in Concentrator Photovoltaics Technology
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Advances in Concentrator Photovoltaics Technology

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A2: Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2021) | Viewed by 5830

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eduardo F. Fernández

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Advanced Studies in Earth Sciences, Energy and Environment (CEACTEMA), Electronics and Automation Department, Universidad de Jaén, Las Lagunillas Campus, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Interests: solar energy; photovoltaics; concentrator photovoltaics; solar cells; optics; heat transfer; development, characterization, and modelling of PV and CPV systems
Prof. Dr. Pedro Perez-Higueras

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Electric and Automatic Engineering, CEA in Earch Sciences, Energy and Environment (CEACTEMA), University of Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, s/n, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Interests: energy; renewable energy; solar energy; photovoltaics; concentrator photovoltaics
Dr. Florencia Almonacid Cruz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Electric and Automatic Engineering, CEA in Earch Sciences, Energy and Environment (CEACTEMA), University of Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, s/n, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Interests: photovoltaics; concentrator photovoltaics; advance modelling techniques; artificial neural network

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of novel, high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) technologies has become essential to promoting the transition to a system based on renewable energies. Concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) offers the highest solar conversion efficiencies, >40%, among all the PV technologies. In addition, it represents a unique way to push the efficiency towards the maximum solar conversion, >80%. In this sense, big efforts are being made by the community to develop next generation CPV systems to increase the performance of such technologies.

This Issue aims to cover the most promising research lines to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of CPV. It is open but not limited to relevant contributions related to the novel architecture of solar cells intended to support higher concentrations or improve the spectral absorption of light. Concentrators optics tailored to improve angular tolerance, compactness, and/or concentration factor are also included. New trends to handle or exploit heat waste to further increase efficiency are also of high interest. Finally, the Issue welcomes relevant work concerning advance modelling techniques, novel CPV module configurations, hybrid systems, characterization procedures, or economic assessment, to improve our understating of PV technologies and promote their market expansion.

Prof. Dr. Eduardo F. Fernandez
Prof. Dr. Pedro Perez-Higueras
Dr. F. Almonacid
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • solar cells
  • optics
  • heat transfer
  • hybridization
  • modelling techniques
  • performance evaluation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 4648 KiB  
Article
Experimental Comparison between Spherical and Refractive Optics in a Concentrating Photovoltaic System
by Carlo Renno
Energies 2021, 14(15), 4603; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14154603 - 29 Jul 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1357
Abstract
Since there are not standard configurations of the Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) systems, several types of optics are designed and analyzed. In this paper, the optical performances of a spherical mirror and a commonly used Fresnel lens of the same diameter are compared, highlighting [...] Read more.
Since there are not standard configurations of the Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) systems, several types of optics are designed and analyzed. In this paper, the optical performances of a spherical mirror and a commonly used Fresnel lens of the same diameter are compared, highlighting their impact on the CPV system energy performance. First, the absolute and percentual variation trends of optical concentration factor and optical efficiency as function of the distance between each optical system and receiver are analyzed. The concentration levels obtained by means of the spherical mirror are much higher than the Fresnel lens, with maximum values of optical efficiency equal to 72.8% and 24.1%, respectively. The analysis of the concentration reduction due to a solar-tracking failure has also allowed the estimation of the acceptance angle, thus observing that the spherical mirror requires a less accurate solar tracker with respect to the Fresnel lens, especially if a secondary optics is adopted. As for the energy comparison, the spherical mirror allows increase of the Triple-Junction (TJ) cell temperature up to about 65 °C higher than the environmental temperature and to reach an electrical power of about 15 W in correspondence of a concentrated solar radiation of 470 kW/m2. Finally, the deviation between the cumulative electric energy produced by the TJ cell in the cases of correct and incorrect solar tracking and for the configurations with and without secondary optics has been also evaluated for both the optics. The equations experimentally obtained in this paper represent a more accurate tool to describe the physical phenomenon in comparison with the equations theoretically obtained for similar CPV systems. The results can be used to design a real CPV system that adopts a Fresnel lens or a spherical mirror. The equations experimentally obtained in this paper represent a more accurate tool to describe the physical phenomenon in comparison with the equations theoretically obtained for similar CPV systems. The results can be used to design a real CPV system that adopts a Fresnel lens or a spherical mirror. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Concentrator Photovoltaics Technology)
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41 pages, 3428 KiB  
Article
Photovoltaic Concentration: Research and Development
by Sarah El Himer, Salima El Ayane, Sara El Yahyaoui, Jean Paul Salvestrini and Ali Ahaitouf
Energies 2020, 13(21), 5721; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13215721 - 2 Nov 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 3637
Abstract
Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) technology, by using efficient optical elements, small sizes and high efficiency multi-junction solar cells, can be seen as a bright energy source to produce more cost-effective electricity. The main and basic idea is to replace the use of expensive solar [...] Read more.
Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) technology, by using efficient optical elements, small sizes and high efficiency multi-junction solar cells, can be seen as a bright energy source to produce more cost-effective electricity. The main and basic idea is to replace the use of expensive solar cells with less expensive optical elements made from different materials. This paper aims to give to the readers a rapid and concise overview of CPV and the main characteristics to be considered when designing a CPV system. It reviews the main optical configurations presented in the literature, their advantages and drawbacks, as well as the recent progress in the concentration ratio and the major performances achieved in the field. The paper considers the more recent works, their optical designs, as well as their optical and electrical performances. It also relates the major achievements on the industrial side with the major milestones in CPV developments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Concentrator Photovoltaics Technology)
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