An Outdoor Experiment of a Lens Walled Compound Parabolic Concentrator Photovoltaic Module on a Sunny Day in Nottingham

Abstract

A lenswalled compound parabolic concentrator (lenswalled CPC) has a larger half acceptance angle than a mirror CPC for the same geometrical concentration ratio of 2.5X, so it would be more suitable for the buildingintegrated application as a stationary solar concentrator. Based on our previous work, an outdoor experimental study of a sample trough lenswalled CPC PV module under sunny condition in Nottingham is described. The experimental results provide the verification of actual larger half acceptance angle obtained by the lenswalled CPC in comparison with a mirror CPC of the same size. Along with the analysis of the projected incidence angles, the experimental results also indicate that the lenswalled CPC of 2.5X orientated east–west may be a good choice for high latitude area as a stationary solar concentrator to give a satisfactory whole year performance.