Achieving High Efficiency Static Low-Concentration Photovoltaic Module Using Hybrid Lens Arrays

We propose a new design paradigm of static low concentration photovoltaics for III-V or silicon solar cells. Although static/non-tracking low concentrator optics has been studied extensively, most of these designs are either difficult to implement or low optical efficiency. In this work, we present a design that uses lens array that mixes two different optics, giving more degrees of freedom to optimize the optics and the size of solar cells. This design approach brings the optical efficiency closer to the theoretical upper limit while maintaining manufacturability and scalability. Although the design example presented in this work is aimed to mount on sloped surface, this can be also applied to the building integrated photovoltaics or on car-roof.