Simulation Model of PV Module Built from Point-Focusing Fresnel Radiation Concentrators and Three-Junction High-Performance Cells

Mariusz T Sarniak

doi:10.3390/app12020806

Abstract

The silicon photovoltaic modules that dominate the market today are constantly being modified, but at the same time, the search for new, more efficient design solutions is underway. The study examined a less popular photovoltaic module built from point-focusing Fresnel radiation concentrators and high-efficiency three-junction cells. The advantage of this type of module is its high overall efficiency, exceeding 30%. The disadvantage is that they require biaxial precision tracking mechanisms because even a small deviation of the direction of direct solar radiation from the perpendicular to the module’s surface causes a large and abrupt drop in efficiency. This type of photovoltaic module structure is often also marked with the symbol C3PV. A mathematical model and simulation calculations were carried out in the Matlab/Simulink package for the C3PV module—the CX-75/200 model based on the “Solar Cell” component. The concentration of direct solar radiation was taken into account. For the module under consideration, experimental and simulation results show the necessity of accurate positioning concerning the direction of solar radiation—deviation of the radiation angle by about 5° causes a very high power loss (by about 92%).

Highlights

Standard silicon PV modules, which directly convert solar energy into electricity, continue to dominate the market, and this dominance is estimated to last for another15 years or so [1,2,3,4]
The subject of this paper is another less common photovoltaic module constructed from point-focused Fresnel radiation concentrators (CPVs) and high-efficiency three-junction
The comparative material was the nominal parameters of the CX-75/200 module, given in Table 2, which were tested under the conditions given by the manufacturer

Summary

Introduction

Standard silicon PV modules, which directly convert solar energy into electricity, continue to dominate the market, and this dominance is estimated to last for another15 years or so [1,2,3,4]. Standard silicon PV modules, which directly convert solar energy into electricity, continue to dominate the market, and this dominance is estimated to last for another. Concentrated solar technologies use multilayer photovoltaic cells, which make the efficiency of converting solar energy into electricity about 2.5 times higher than that of conventional single-junction photovoltaic cells [5,6,7,8,9]. The subject of this paper is another less common photovoltaic module constructed from point-focused Fresnel radiation concentrators (CPVs) and high-efficiency three-junction (3J) cells. This type of photovoltaic module design is often denoted by the symbol. The internal structure of this module is different from the standard one, and in this particular case for the model designated with the symbol CX-75/200, it consists of

Methods

Results

Conclusion