Mitigating the non-uniform illumination in low concentrating CPCs using structured reflectors

One problem in concentrating photovoltaic systems without active cooling is the formation of hot spots on the solar module cells. These hotspots are a result of uneven concentration of radiation within the solar module cells. The overall effect of concentrated heating is the reduction in the fill-factor of the solar module cell and the subsequent decrease in the overall efficiency of the system. In this paper, we investigate one alternative of improving the performance of a low concentrating photovoltaic system using semi-diffuse rolled reflective elements. Our results indicate that rolling marks on the reflector aligned parallel to the plane of the solar module cell improve the performance of the photovoltaic system. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved