Application of compound parabolic concentrators to solar photovoltaic conversion: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Summary The use of concentrating systems has been proposed as a way to reduce the cost of electrical energy from photovoltaic (PV) module. Since 1970s, different solar collector designs have been used to increase energy flux on the PV module. This study aims at providing a comprehensive review of development in the application of compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs) to solar photovoltaic conversion for the past five decades. By narrowing down the application of CPCs to electrical energy only gives a reader an opportunity to clearly understand the detail development stages, challenges, and research opportunities for further improvement. From this review, it has been found that during 1970s, all studies on the application of CPCs to solar photovoltaic conversion were mainly focused on establishing technical feasibility and cost effectiveness. Thereafter (1981‐May 2018), extensive studies were carried out to resolve challenges that were observed during the establishment stage. However, it has been found that even though the power output of the PV modules with the CPC was always higher than similar modules without the CPC, the values were less than the expected (theoretical) results. This was due to optical losses, series resistance losses, non‐uniform illumination effect, and high operating cell temperature effect. In addition, high cost of the PV‐CPC systems and low concentration ratio of the CPCs were also the main concerns of various researchers.

A bibliometric analysis of the application of solar energy to the organic Rankine cycle

“…It can be seen in Figure 7 that the solar collector used in low temperature (≤200 °C) solar-ORC applications includes the ETC, CPC, and the most common used both in a small and industry scale is FPC and advance FPC.

Figure 7 Solar collector type: (a) ETC ( Ismail et al., 2021 ), (b) CPC ( Paul, 2019 ), (c) FPC ( Hawwash et al., 2018 ).

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Dataset on the effect of receiver size and acceptance half-angle on the aperture width and height of compound parabolic concentrator for low-concentrating photovoltaic applications using RSM

“…The electrical power generated by a concentrated PV system increases by a factor equal to the concentration ratio of its concentrator [3] . A compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) is a non-imaging device generally used in PV, thermal, or hybrid PV/thermal systems as an optical concentrating element [4] . The CPC has been regarded as the best static low-concentrating system for PV applications for the past five decades due to the various advantages like higher optical efficiency and being able to collect both diffuse and direct radiations [5] .…”

Performance and determination of Concentration Ratio for a parabolic solar concentrator using a thermographic technique

“…On the other hand, they can also be coupled to photovoltaic (PV) systems in order to improve power generation and reduce costs associated with PV modules. This gives the solar concentrator a wide range of applications and a potential impact on the renewable energy sources field [9][10][11].…”