The success of solar systems, such as photovoltaic and sunlight illumination systems, is principally determined by the primary optical element used as collector. On this subject, the design of a segmented nonimaging Fresnel lens is presented; this collector is formed by the conjunction of different zones for solar collection, where every zone is made of a nonimaging Fresnel lens that collects a specific angular range of sunlight, according to the solar radiation of the northeast received in Mexico. Every collector section focus in a common area. The different zones are designed considering the apparent solar movement due to the daytime and the seasonal displacement over the year. The collector total performance is presented, including spatial and angular distribution. The collector presents an average performance over 80%, with an acceptance half-angle of 120°, and a collection area similar to that in a collector with 45° of acceptance half-angle.

Date Published: 7 September 2016
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 9955, Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration XIII—Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Nonimaging Optics, 99550O (7 September 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2237781

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9955:
Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration XIII—Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Nonimaging Optics
Roland Winston; Jeffrey M. Gordon, Editor(s)