Optimum Design Of V-Trough Solar Concentrator For Photovoltaic Applications

This paper presents a novel design of V-trough Solar Concentrator (VSC) for low concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) applications. The conventional VSC design comprises of two flat reflectors slanted by an angle and attached to a PV module. The maximum reported concentration ratio (CR) and optical efficiency (OE) of this concentrator are 2x and 89.91%, respectively. This paper demonstrates the process of improving the VSC. The geometrical and optical performance of the conventional VSC were optimized by the theoretical image technique. The experimental CR and OE are increased by 43.50% and 4.32%, respectively. Then, a crossed V-trough design "Pyramid" is suggested to increase the concentrated radiation. Pyramid concentrator boosted the CR, but the OE is dropped. Eventually, a new VSC geometry is proposed and resulted in CR of 4.70x and OE of 91.83%. The new design demonstrates the possibility of obtaining the same CR using a smaller reflector area than conventional and pyramid V-trough configurations, leading to a reduction in production cost. The results show the potential to further improve this type of solar concentrator for photovoltaic applications.