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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