Design method of a compact static nonimaging concentrator for portable photovoltaics using parameterisation and numerical optimisation

Portable solar chargers are one of the technologies that can help to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030. However, the large number of solar photovoltaic devices required and their short life-span make achieving this goal a resource and energy intensive process. To reduce the embodied energy, the embodied carbon and the human and eco-toxicity potential of portable solar chargers, solar photovoltaic concentrators can be used. This paper proposes a new nonimaging solar photovoltaic concentrator design which has material efficiency, portability and off-grid use as its main feature. The main contribution of this paper is the design method of the new 3D nonimaging concentrator containing the parametric equation of the concentrator surfaces and the numeric optimisation of the design parameters. The developed optimisation program is based on genetic algorithms which parameters were determined experimentally in this paper. The concentrator design achieved with this method is 43% less material intensive than the most compact nonimaging solar concentrator available in literature. This design approach can be used to find concentrator designs with specific volumes, heights, concentration ratios, acceptance angles and optical efficiency. It is therefore a step towards more material efficient and more sustainable nonimaging concentrators as well as more sustainable portable solar photovoltaic systems.