Recovery Act - Hybrid Slat-Array PV System with Thermal Co-Generation

The emerging concentration photovoltaic (CPV) technology has a broadly recognized potential in reducing the cost of electric power generation from sunlight and is seen as a key component of the national Solar America Initiative (SAI). A well established solar thermal technology provides some of the highest possible conversion of sunlight into useful heat. While CPV has suffered from inherent limitations of traditional optics and a lack of suitable receiver technology since its inception, combining electric and thermal collectors in a single device poses even greater difficulties. The proposed project identifies a perfect match between the variety of solar collectors, PV cells and solar thermal technologies and is aimed at developing a complete, balanced PV/thermal solution. The project strives to fill the gap between the CPV technology and flat-plate heat collectors by harnessing the novel Slat-Array Concentrator that provides a highly uniform concentrated flux and substantial reduction of raw PV and thermal collector materials. The new system will utilize crystalline silicon (Si) cells rather than highly specialized and costly concentrator cells employed in conventional CPV designs and a small form factor heat collector. The resulting hybrid technology will capitalize on the mature PV and solar thermal technologies and uniquely combine these technologies with some of the most sound advancements in solar concentrator optics. Our approach allows for boosting the power output from conventional Si cells by up to a factor of 40 without overheating and additionally cogenerates hot water for a number of applications. This should allow for a direct reduction of the costs associated with semiconductor materials and heat absorbers and help achieve about twice lower cost of generated electricity compared to the flat plate PV panels with an added bonus of continuous hot water flow during the day. We will perform design study, optical and thermal modeling, on-the-sun experiments, and fabricate and test a pilot-prototype concentrator in this Phase I project. With the subsequent development of an integrated hybrid PV/thermal module in Phase II, we will make viable the replacement of conventional PV modules and heat collectors with inexpensive concentrator modules requiring a dramatically smaller quantity of expensive materials. The commercialization of the system to be developed will contribute to the creation and retention of U.S.-based jobs thus contributing to the President