Solar flux distribution study of non-imaging dish concentrator using linear array of triple-junction solar cells scanning technique

• High solar flux scanner can measure flux distribution up to 1182 suns in 10 s.
• Systematic technique is developed to compare simulated and measured flux profile.
• Mirror reflectivity is obtained as 0.93, a ratio of measured to simulated SCR.
• Using root-mean-square deviation, ɛ = 0.2°, δ = 3 mrad, χ = 0.1 are obtained.

A high solar flux scanner has been designed and constructed to acquire solar flux distribution profile of a non-imaging dish concentrator (NIDC). The scanner is capable of acquiring high concentrated solar flux distribution up to 1182 suns accurately and rapidly using an array of triple-junction solar cells. A numerical simulation has also been developed for modeling onsite solar flux distribution by considering all imperfection factors, i.e. circumsolar radiation, slope error and optical misalignment. A systematic technique has been proposed to analyze the amount of various imperfection factors for the NIDC prototype: mirror reflectivity of 0.93, slope error of 3 mrad, circumsolar ratio of 0.1, and optical misalignment angles of 0.2°.

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