In this article we discuss an emerging concept for non-mechanical solar tracking that can have a significant impact for the design of next generation concentrator photovoltaics systems. Based on the modification of the optical properties of the concentrator elements instead of their mechanical rearrangement, self-tracking concentrators, with recently demonstrated prototypes, could make the mechanical trackers redundant expanding the scope of application of CPV systems. We propose here a new approach to a reactive-tracking system, analyze its underlying physics and discuss initial experimental and simulation results towards the development of a prototype.

Date Published: 5 September 2014
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 9191, Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration XI, 91910E (5 September 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2062156

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9191:
Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration XI
Roland Winston; Jeffrey M. Gordon, Editor(s)