The project team of University of California at Merced (UC-Merced), Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and MicroLink Devices Inc. (MicroLink) are developing a hybrid solar system using a nonimaging compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) that maximizes the exergy by delivering direct electricity and on-demand heat. The hybrid solar system technology uses secondary optics in a solar receiver to achieve high efficiency at high temperature, collects heat in particles and uses reflective liftoff cooled double junction (2J) InGaP/GaAs solar cells with backside infrared (IR) reflectors on the secondary optical element to raise exergy efficiency. The nonimaging optics provides additional concentration towards the high temperature thermal stream and enables it to operate efficiently at 650 °C while the solar cell is maintained at 40 °C to operate as efficiently as possible.

Date Published: 7 September 2016
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 9955, Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration XIII—Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Nonimaging Optics, 99550N (7 September 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2239139

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)