DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE ASPECTS FOR LOW CONCENTRATION PHOTOVOLTAICS

A review on the design and performance aspects of low concentration photovoltaics is presented in this work. In Physics Department at University of Patras, Greece optical and thermal performance of low concentration configurations have been studied regarding their effect to the electrical output. The experimental study confirms that the non-uniform distribution of solar radiation on the PV surface of concentrating photovoltaics reduces the electrical efficiency of them. This effect can be overcome combining the photovoltaics with low concentration devices that achieve uniform distribution of solar radiation on cell surface. The simpler and of lower cost mode is to apply diffuse reflectors instead of specular reflectors. The PV temperature reduction is also a factor for the electrical efficiency reduction and several modes for heat extraction can be applied according to the application requirements, using water or air cooled hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar systems.