Abstract
Beam-steering lens arrays enable solar tracking using millimeter-scale relative translation between a set of lens arrays. This may represent a promising alternative to the mechanical bulk of conventional solar trackers, but until now a thorough exploration of possible configurations has not been carried out. We present an approach for designing beam-steering lens arrays based on multi-objective optimization, quantifying the trade-off between beam divergence and optical efficiency. Using this approach, we screen and optimize a large number of beam-steering lens array configurations, and identify new and promising configurations. We present a design capable of redirecting sunlight into a <2° divergence half-angle, with 73.4% average yearly efficiency, as well as a simplified design achieving 75.4% efficiency with a <3.5° divergence half-angle. These designs indicate the potential of beam-steering lens arrays for enabling low-cost solar tracking for stationary solar concentrators.
Highlights
Solar concentrators can provide highly concentrated solar power for applications such as concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), concentrated solar power (CSP), or solar lighting [1]
Several beam-steering concepts have been proposed for solar tracking, including electrowetting to change the angle of the interface between two liquids with different refractive indices [8], microfluidic beam-steering arrays [9], rotating prism arrays [10], liquid crystals controlled by electric fields [11], rotating off-axis Fresnel lenses [12], and beam-steering lens arrays [13,14,15]
We numerically investigate the achievable performance of a large number of different beam-steering lens array configurations designed for stationary solar tracking applications
Summary
Solar concentrators can provide highly concentrated solar power for applications such as concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), concentrated solar power (CSP), or solar lighting [1]. The concentrators require accurate solar tracking to achieve high concentration [2], which is usually performed by rotating the concentrator to face the sun. This approach allows the design of the concentrator optics to be independent of the design of the tracking optics, and it enables the beam-steering system to be used for different applications. Several beam-steering concepts have been proposed for solar tracking, including electrowetting to change the angle of the interface between two liquids with different refractive indices [8], microfluidic beam-steering arrays [9], rotating prism arrays [10], liquid crystals controlled by electric fields [11], rotating off-axis Fresnel lenses [12], and beam-steering lens arrays [13,14,15]
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