A Novel Thin Concentrator Photovoltaic With Microsolar Cells Directly Attached to a Lens Array

Author

Arase, Hidekazu ; Matsushita, Akira ; Itou, Atsushi ; Asano, Takashi ; Hayashi, Neisei ; Inoue, Daisuke ; Futakuchi, Ryutaro ; Inoue, Ken ; Nakagawa, T. ; Yamamoto, Manabu ; Fujii, Eiji ; Anda, Yoshiharu ; Ishida, Hiroto ; Ueda, Toshitsugu ; Fidaner, Onur

Author_Institution

Adv. Technol. Res. Labs., Panasonic Corp., Kyoto, Japan

Volume

4

Issue

2

fYear

2014

fDate

Mar-14

Firstpage

709

Lastpage

712

Abstract

We propose a novel concept of thin and compact CPV modules in which submillimeter solar cells are directly attached to lens arrays without secondary optics or an extra heat sink. With this small cell size, the optical path length of the module can be brought down to one-twentieth that of conventional CPV modules. To achieve precise alignment of the microsolar cells at the lens focal points, we have developed a fluidic self-assembly technique that utilizes surface tension. This novel CPV module with triple junction microsolar cells demonstrated an efficiency of 34.7% under sunlight in the particular measured condition.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; gallium arsenide; microlenses; optical arrays; self-assembly; solar cells; surface tension; compact CPV modules; fluidic self-assembly technique; lens array; optical path length; surface tension; thin concentrator photovoltaic cells; triple junction microsolar cells; Arrays; Lenses; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems; Printed circuits; Temperature measurement; III–V multijunction solar cells; photovoltaic cells; photovoltaic systems; self-assembly; surface tension;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photovoltaics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

2156-3381

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JPHOTOV.2013.2292364

Filename

6684322