Analysis of a Novel Solar Concentrator for Building Integrated Photovoltaic Application

This research work focuses on developing a novel solar concentrator – a rectangular-based rotationally asymmetrical compound parabolic concentrator (RRACPC) design. This design is unique in its rectangular exit aperture, entrance aperture, and half-acceptance angles. Several concentrators of the same design are created with varied geometry, and their geometrical properties are investigated. From the designs, a particular concentrator is selected for further studies. The selected concentrator has a height of 3 cm, a refractive index of 1.49, and an exit aperture of 1.0×1.1 cm. The concentrator has a geometrical concentration gain of 3.6616 and a half-acceptance angle of 45.0368° and 42.5242° in the x- and y-axes, respectively. The annual electrical output is predicted and calculated theoretically and was compared with a conventional photovoltaic (PV) panel. It is observed that the RRACPC-PV reduces the overall cost of the panel by 33% compared to a conventional PV panel.