Design and Development of a Lens-walled Compound Parabolic Concentrator-A Review

Abstract

Compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) is a representative among solar concentrators, one of whose disadvantage is that the concentration ratio limits the half acceptance angle. Based on this, researchers put forward a novel structure, named the lens-walled CPC. This paper reviews the design and development of lens-walled CPC. The structure of the symmetric and asymmetric lens-walled CPC and the improved ones are presented, and their indoor and outdoor performances are also illustrated. The lens-walled CPC has a larger half acceptance angle and a more uniform flux distribution that is suitable for PV application. Furthermore, the life-cycle assessment for building integrated with PV is performed and it shows that the energy payback time of such integrated system has a significant advantage. In addition, future research areas are also indicated that may provide more functions and more stable performance. The design methods and developmental directions given in this study would provide many references in solar optical research and solar concentrator optimization.