Design of Energy Efficient Low Cost Solar Concentrators using BFO Algorithm

Abstract: The main problem involved in utilization of solar energy is low efficiency of photovoltaic conversion and high cost. The objectives of the paper are to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic cells and to reduce the cost of the photovoltaic module. A novel method is presented in this paper to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic modules and reduce the cost by the use of specially designed solar concentrators .The efficiency of photovoltaic module is increased by covering an angle of nearly 180° so that the sun's radiation converges throughout the day from all angles on to a fixed flat plate module. The cost is reduced by use of cheaper glass for module and covering a wider area for the radiation. The above objectives are achieved by the use of a special arrangement of three lenses for the concentrators. A dynamic rapid method for tracking the maximum power angle of solar cell arrays known as Bacteria Foraging Optimization (BFO) algorithm has been used. Experimental analysis is presented for the comparison of different positions of the sun for maximum power alignment