Research of the design of a solar radiation concentrator for autonomous photoenergy installation

Significant increase in power due to the use of concentrators of solar radiation confirms the feasibility of using concentrated radiation, and the development of concentrators makes a separate task of optical physics. Hubs deserve special attention to obtain a high degree of radiation concentration, their development requires a number of innovative technical solutions. The complex researches on optimization of concentrators of solar radiation for use as a part of high-concentration photovoltaic systems by research of optical properties and features of degradation of facet, vacuum and segment concentrators are carried out in the work. According to the results of field testing of the experimental sample of the facet concentrator, it was found that the procedure of adjusting the concentrator is associated with individual adjustment of the position of each of the 400 mirrors, which is extremely difficult. And due to the insufficient rigidity of the structure, the concentrator needs to be adjusted in the settings after the operations of moving or assembling-disassembling the experimental sample of the concentrator. As the concentrator needs regular cleaning due to natural pollution from dust, rain and other natural factors, this operation is associated with mechanical impact on the mirrors, which leads to a violation of their settings. According to the results of testing the vacuum type concentrator, it was found that such concentrators are very sensitive to the quality of the base because due to design features cannot be adjusted after manufacture and they had too large a focal spot larger than the heat sink. According to the results of field testing, it is established that the design of a segment-type concentrator is promising for use in the high-concentration photovoltaic systems, which is a circular array of segments made of mirror material, the integrated reflection coefficient of which reaches 95% and made an experimental sample with an area of 3.6 m2, which allows to obtain a focal spot with a diameter of 120 mm with a trapezoidal light distribution with a radiation concentration factor of 360 units.