Demonstration of an intermediate-scale lens-to-channel waveguide solar concentrator

Solar concentrating photovoltaic systems have the potential to reduce total cost and achieve higher efficiency by replacing a large solar cell surface with cheaper optical devices, in which a large area of light can be efficiently collected and concentrated to a small optical device and guided to an array of co-located photovoltaic cells with high optical efficiency. We present an experimental demonstration for a lens-to-channel waveguide solar concentrator using a commercially-available Fresnel lens array. In this work, a 60 mm by 60 mm lens to channel waveguide system is used for demonstration. A separate, aluminum-coated 45° coupler is fabricated and attached to the waveguide to improve the coupling efficiency and to avoid any inherent decoupling loss. The fabrication details and component performance of the prototype device are discussed.