V-CELL CONCENTRATOR CELL ASSEMBLY

GRID LINE OBSCURATION LOSSES AND ACTIVE AREA REFLECTION LOSSES DETRACT SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THE EFFICIENCY OF CONCENTRATOR CELL ASSEMBLES. EXCEPT FOR SOME LABORATORY DEVICES, ALL PHOTOVOLTAIC, PV, CELLS HAVE METAL GRID-LINES AND CONNECTION PADS ON THE FRONT SURFACE TO COLLECT CURRENT. LIGHT THAT STRIKES THESE AREAS IS UNAVAILABLE FOR CURRENT GENERATION. REFLECTION OFF OF THE ACTIVE AREAS OF THE CELL ALSO REDUCES CURRENT. A CONCENTRATOR CELL ASSEMBLY IS NEEDED THAT WILL ELIMINATE OR SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE GRID-LINE OBSCURATION AND ACTIVE AREA REFLECTION LOSSES. THE SEA CORP. V-CELL RECEIVER IS A NEW, INNOVATIVE CONCEPT THAT SHOWS PROMISE OF REDUCING THESE LOSSES TO A MINIMUM. SEA CORP. WILL DEVELOP A RAY TRACE COMPUTER MODEL FOR THE V-CELL. USING DATA FROM EXISTING CELLS AND LINEAR LENS, A PARAMETER STUDY AND DESIGN OPTIMIZATION WILL BE PERFORMED. BASED ON THE OPTIMIZATION, SEA CORP. WILL FABRICATE A PHYSICAL MODEL OF THE V-CELL RECEIVER THAT WILL VERIFY THE CONCEPT AND THE COMPUTER PROGRAM. THE MODEL WILL BE TESTED AT SEA CORP. AND AT AN INDEPENDENT TESTING LAB. A COST/BENEFIT ANLAYSIS OF THE V-CELL RECEIVER DESIGN WILL BE PERFORMED. THE TECHNICAL AND ECONOMICAL FEASIBILITY OF THE V-CELL RECEIVER WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THE FINAL REPORT. IN PRELIMINARY TESTING USING COMMERCIAL CELLS, THE V-CELL RECEIVER HAS SHOWN A 15% CURRENT GAIN OVER STANDARD RECEIVERS. THE CONCEPT IS ADAPTABLE TO DIFFERENT CONCENTRATOR DESIGNS INCLUDING POINT FOCUS AND MULTI-JUNCTION AND SHOWS PROMISE OF SIGNIFICANTLY EFFECTING PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY COSTS.