Energetic and Economic Analysis of a New Concept of Solar Concentrator for Residential Application. (August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bianchi, M.; Diolaiti, E.; Giannuzzi, A.; Marano, B.; Melino, F.; Peretto, A.
• Is Part Of: Energy procedia. Volume 75(2015)
• Page Start: 367
• Page End: 372
• Publication Date: 2015-08
• Subjects: Renewable Energy -- Solar Concentration -- Non Imaging Optics -- Combined Heat and Power -- Feasibility Study; Power resources -- Congresses; Power resources -- Periodicals; Power resources; Conference proceedings; Periodicals; 333.7905
• DOI: 10.1016/j.egypro.2015.07.391
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1876-6102

Abstract

Abstract: Renewable energy penetration is increasing in last years, covering a more and more important role in both electrical and thermal supply. Nowadays, the photovoltaic conversion is a consolidated technology and can be efficiently combined with solar concentration. In this study, a new concept of photovoltaic solar concentrator based on non-conventional mirrors coupled with high efficiency triple-junctions cells is described and discussed. More in details, as for the optical design, deformations are applied to classical spherical mirrors to control solar aberrations and boost efficiency of a receiver consisting in a dense array of cells. The efficiency enhance is obtained by high matching between the collected solar irradiance and the receiver electrical features. The concentrator is able to produce both electrical and thermal energy: the system requires in fact an active cooling circuit to maintain the cells performance. This behavior makes the system suitable for combined heat and power applications with particular reference to high direct irradiance environments. An analytical study, considering a residential utility has been performed in order to understand the energetic and economic performance of the system. In particular, a simulation has been carried out by the use of an in-house-developed calculation code considering a whole year of operation.