In this paper, United Innovations, Inc. (U2) presents the results of extensive analytical studies involving a radically new concentrator system based on the Photovoltaic Cavity Converter (PVCC) concept presently under development. The objective of this project is to achieve an unprecedented solar-toelectricity conversion efficiency of 50% (half the sun) that will substantially reduce the cost of solar electricity. This RBD effort is suppolled by DOE/NREL with the purpose of demonstrating a 1.5 kW unit in the near term. The system considered is a DisWPVCC combination consisting of a primary concentrator, a secondary flux booster and a PVCC. Trapped flux inside the cavity undergoes spectral splitting via selective refiectionhnsmission by special Rugate filters. A four bandgap array inside the cavity consisting of four complementing Ill-V singlejunction cell types achieves a collective conversion efficiency of 48.32% at 100 suns.
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