Renewable Energy: Concentrated Solar Photovoltaics
In the ongoing effort to advance the viability of solar power, two technical challenges can be identified: raising the conversion efficiency of solar-to-electrical energy, and improving the process of light collection and delivery to a photovoltaic (PV) cell. The former challenge generally involves the properties of semiconductor materials and is traditionally the focus of much effort in research contexts. Indeed, this attention is well justified as the overall expense and manufacturing-related environmental impact of solar power rests largely upon the semiconductor materials involved. There is also promise, however, in the latter research challenge, i.e., collection and delivery of light to the cell. This is traditionally accomplished with so-called concentrator photovoltaics (CPVs). The concept involves conventional focusing to concentrate a large area of intercepted sunlight onto a smaller area containing a cell. In this way, CPVs have the potential to enhance solar power-production by requiring less cell material for the same power yield. Our group has investigated a new concept in the physics of CVPs based on EM scattering, and has assessed its potential to improve solar power technology, see [here].
Photo: High school student Matthew Steed (left) and graduate student Nava Subedi testing a prototype of the new concentrator concept.