Concentrated Pv Cell Solar Panel

What are concentrating photovoltaics.

Concentrated pv cell solar panel.

The way this works is that the solar pv cells absorb light which will then knock electrons loose. In other words photovoltaics is the direct conversion of light into electricity. Cpv systems must track the sun to keep the light focused on the pv cells. The pv systems that use concentrated light are called concentrating photovoltaics cpv.

Concentrator photovoltaics cpv also known as concentration photovoltaics is a photovoltaic technology that generates electricity from sunlight. Monocrystalline solar panels mono and polycrystalline solar panels poly. The best commercial silicon solar cells tops at 21 efficiency whereas multiple junctions cells used for cpv can reach 46 and are still improving this gap in performance can be observed at the module level even with high optical losses for cpv. Concentrating solar thermal plants csp like all thermal electric plants require water for cooling.

By concentrating sunlight onto a small area this technology has three competitive advantages. Solar pv cells do not use water for generating electricity. Concentrated pv cpv systems concentrate sunlight on solar cells greatly increasing the efficiency of the cells. This can be done by using optical light collectors such as lenses or mirrors.

Both types of panels produce energy from the sun but there are some key differences to be aware of. One of the ways to increase the output from the photovoltaic systems is to supply concentrated light onto the pv cells. Based on the principal that a solar cell receiving more light energy will produce more electricity concentrating photovoltaic solar panels simply involve a method usually using a lens or mirrors to concentrate more sunlight onto a photovoltaic cell. Water use depends on the plant design plant location and the type of cooling system.

In concentrating photovoltaics cpv a large area of sunlight is focused onto the solar cell with the help of an optical device. Unlike csp which uses the sun s energy pv solar panels make use of the sun s light instead. However as in all manufacturing processes some water is used to manufacture solar pv components. Concentrated solar power csp also known as concentrating solar power concentrated solar thermal systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a receiver.

The pv cells in a cpv system are built into concentrating collectors that use a lens or mirrors to focus the sunlight onto the cells. Advantages of cpv over normal solar panels. Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is converted to heat solar thermal energy which drives a heat engine usually a steam turbine connected to an electrical power.