A compact and high-power silicon-wafer solar strip-cells-array module integrated with an array concentrator

A compact, low-cost and high-output-power silicon-wafer solar strip-cells-array module(SCAM) was experimentally demonstrated. The proposed SCAM consisted mainly of a silicon-wafer strip-cell sparse array and low-concentrationratio array concentrator based on an epoxy resin polymer(ERP) cylindrical plano-convex lens. A polymer replication process based on a polydimethylsiloxane mold was used to fabricate the ERP lens array concentrator. The results show that 46.94% of the silicon-wafer cell was saved in the designed SCAM. Moreover, the output power of the SCAM with a low concentration ratio of 8 suns was improved by 8.6%, compared with a whole piece of a conventional silicon-wafer solar cell with the same area as the module. The proposed method encapsulating solar cells provides a means to reduce the usage of silicon cells in modules as well as improving the output power of modules.     

Application of millimeter-sized polymer cylindrical lens array concentrators in solar cells

A unique method is proposed to encapsulate solar cells and improve their power conversion efficiency by using a millimeter-sized cylindrical lens array concentrator. Millimeter-sized epoxy resin polymer(ERP) cylindrical lens array concentrators are fabricated by the soft imprint technique based on polydimethylsiloxane stamps. The photovoltaic measurements show that millimeter-sized ERP cylindrical lens array concentrators can considerably improve the power conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells. The validity of the proposed method is proved by the coupled optical and electrical simulations. The designed solar cell devices with the advantages of high-efficiency and convenient cleaning are very useful in practical applications.