Design and Evaluation of Low-concentration Static III-V/Si Partial CPV Module for Car-rooftop Application

This paper describes the design and evaluation of a low-concentration static III-V/Si partial CPV module that aims to maximize the power generation in the limited car-rooftop area by harvesting full global sunlight. The concentrator lens was designed considering the incident angle dependence of annual global irradiance on the car-rooftop (horizontal flat) surface. The fundamental characteristics were investigated by optical simulation and indoor test using a prototype submodule with a geometrical concentration ratio of 3.5×. The designed lens can collect 46.6% and 36.4% of the annual solar irradiation onto triple-junction and Si cells, respectively, achieving the annual electricity yield which is equivalent to 30% efficiency flat PV module.