Roll-to-roll embossing of optical linear Fresnel lens polymer film for solar concentration

Abstract

Roll-to-roll manufacturing has been proven to be a high-throughput and low-cost technology for continuous fabrication of functional optical polymer films. In this paper, we have firstly studied a complete manufacturing cycle of linear Fresnel lens polymer film for solar concentration in the aspects of ultra-precision diamond machining of metal roller mold, roll-to-roll embossing, and measurement on film profile and functionality. A metal roller mold patterned with linear Fresnel lenses is obtained using single point diamond turning technique. The roller mold is installed onto a self-developed roll-to-roll UV embossing system to realize continuous manufacturing of linear Fresnel lens film. Profile measurement of the machined roller mold and the embossed polymer film, which is conducted using a stylus profilometer, shows good agreement between measured facet angles with designed ones. Functionality test is conducted on a solar simulation system with a reference solar cell, and results show that strong light concentration is realized.