High Concentration Photovoltaic System Research Articles

Optimal regional pole placement for sun tracking control of high-concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) systems: case study

This paper proposes an optimal regional pole placement approach for sun tracking control of high-concentration photovoltaic systems. A static output feedback controller is designed to minimize an LQG cost function with a sector region pole constraint. The problem cannot be solved by LMI approach since it is a non-convex optimization problem. Based on the barrier method, we instead solve an auxiliary minimization problem to obtain an approximate solution. Simulation results show the benefit of our approach. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Life cycle assessment and evaluation of energy payback time on high-concentration photovoltaic power generation system

In this study, the environmental load of photovoltaic power generation system (PV) during its life cycle and energy payback time (EPT) are evaluated by LCA scheme. Two hypothetical case studies in Toyohashi, Japan and Gobi dessert in China have been carried out to investigate the influence of installation location and PV type on environmental load and EPT. The environmental load and EPT of a high-concentration photovoltaic power generation system (hcpV) and a multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic power generation system (mc-Si PV) are studied. The study shows for a PV of 100 MW size, the total impacts of the hcpV installed in Toyohashi is larger than that of the hcpV installed in Gobi desert by 5% without consideration of recycling stage. The EPT of the hcpV assumed to be installed in Gobi desert is shorter than EPT of the hcpV assumed to be installed in Toyohashi by 0.64 year. From these results, the superiority to install PV in Gobi desert is certificated. Comparing with hcpV and mc-Si PV, the ratio of the total impacts of mc-Si PV to that of hcpV is 0.34 without consideration of recycling stage. The EPT of hcpV is longer than EPT of mc-Si PV by 0.27 year. The amount of global solar radiation contributing to the amount of power generation of mc-Si PV is larger than the amount of direct solar radiation contributing to the amount of power generation of hcpV by about 188 kW h/(m 2 year) in Gobi desert. Consequently, it appears that using mc-Si PV in Gobi desert is the best option.

Development of the high concentration III-V photovoltaic system at INER, Taiwan

The 100 kW high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) system has been constructed in October 2007 at the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research (INER), Taiwan. The maximum module efficiency with a geometrical concentration ratio of 476× is about 26.1% under 850 W/m 2 DNI and passive cooling conditions [Cherng-Tsong Kuo. The project of demonstrating MW high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) system. Science and technology yearbook of Taiwan. ROC; 2008]. The 100 kW HCPV system consists of 14 sets of pillar-stand 5 kW systems and 21 sets of roof-top 1.5 kW systems. Each 5 kW system and 1.5 kW are comprised of 40 modules and 12 modules respectively. Each module was integrated with 40 solar cells with 35% conversion efficiency each, manufactured by Spectrolab Company, the highest III-V solar cell conversion efficiency record keeper. This project is the pioneer for the establishment of one MW HCPV demonstration system in 2008.

Energy payback time of the high-concentration PV system FLATCON®

The ecological benefit and sustainability of a new energy technology and its potential to reduce CO2 emissions depend strongly on the amount of energy embodied in the materials and production processes. The energy payback time is a measure for the amount of time that a renewable energy system has to operate until the energy involved in its complete life-cycle is regenerated. In this paper, the energy payback time of the high-concentration photovoltaic system FLATCON® using III–V semiconductor multi-junction solar cells has been evaluated. Considering the energy demand for the system manufacturing, including transportation, balance of system and system losses, the energy payback time turns out to be as low as 8–10 months for a FLATCON® concentrator built in Germany and operated in Spain. The energy payback time rises slightly to 12 to 16 months for a system installed in Germany. The main energy demand in the production of such a high-concentration photovoltaic system was found to be the zinced steel for the tracking unit. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.