Prism Based Sunlight Concentrator Layout: A Genetic Algorithm Solution

Abstract

Solar energy is a promising source of energy because it is abundant and harmless to the environment. One of the critical issues involving solar energy is the layout design of sunlight concentrators. This study presents a computational method for reforming the layout of a special sunlight concentrator that consists of a set of prisms to significantly enhance its light intensity. Sunlight movement toward the prisms is modeled, and a genetic algorithm is applied to find a good concentrator layout. Experiments under various light transmission rates validate the performance of our proposed method. The proposed optimal sunlight concentrator layout improves the intensity of light by 55%.