Structure optimization and annual performance analysis of the lens-walled compound parabolic concentrator

ABSTRACT

The primary lens-walled compound parabolic concentrator (lens-walled CPC) has a significant advantage of a larger half acceptance angle as a static solar concentrator, but it also has a drawback of a low optical efficiency. In order to overcome this drawback, in this article, series of structure parameters were investigated and compared to further improve the optical efficiency within the half acceptance angle combined with the material properties. The average optical efficiencies of the improved lens-walled CPCs could achieve more than 82% within the half acceptance angle of 35ᵒ. Experiments were adopted to verify the credibility and validity of the simulation. Moreover, annual performance of the lens-walled CPCs comparison with that of the mirror CPC for Nottingham was analyzed. Results show that the improved lens-walled CPC has a higher optical performance for actual building application.

KEYWORDS:

• BIPV
• CPC
• Lens-walled
• Optical
• Total internal reflection

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Prof. Zheng Hongfei (School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, China) for his assistance in simulation software.

Funding

The study was sponsored by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51178442 and 51408578), National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (No. 2013AA050403), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2014M550350).

Additional information

Funding

The study was sponsored by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51178442 and 51408578), National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (No. 2013AA050403), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2014M550350).