Angular characterization of low concentrating PV-CPC using low-cost reflectors

The most expensive component in a conventional solar photovoltaic (PV) system is the solar module cell. The module cost could be reduced if low-cost reflector materials are used to concentrate solar energy flux across a small module area. Three reflector materials were studied for fill-factor improvements in low concentrating system. These were anodized aluminium, rolled aluminium foil and miro reflectors. From the short-circuit current measurements within +/- 10 degrees from normal incidence, the effective specular reflectance was predicted for each reflector material. The effective specular reflectance was predicted from the flux distribution profile measurements and the ray-tracing results at normal incidence. The ray-tracing and the short-circuit current results were in good agreement within 10% but rather different from spectrophotometer measured results. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved