ABSTRACT
High-efficiency modules are being developed based on the co-design of the optics, interconnections and solar cells. The optical system consists of a tiled non-imaging concentrating system, coupled with a spectral splitter that divides the solar spectrum into a given number of bands. Module efficiency consists of two terms: optical efficiency, which is the amount of sunlight that is directed to the solar cells - weighted by the energy in each band of sunlight - and the sum of the power from each solar cell. The central issues in the optical system are the optical efficiency and the amount of time over which the sunlight remains focused on the solar cells (tracking time). When coupled with an optical system in excess of 93 per cent, the system shows an overall system efficiency, not just the solar cell efficiency, of 50 per cent.
