Concentrator photovoltaics cpv also known as concentration photovoltaics is a photovoltaic technology that generates electricity from sunlight.
Concentrators for solar panels.
This concentrated solar power is used in thermal solar energy.
It is usually an arrangement of aligned mirrors.
Its operation is based on the exploitation of the reflection of the sun rays in a large area through reflective surfaces.
Therefore solar concentrating systems have been investigated for several decades for utilization of concentrated solar energy for high temperature application.
Unlike conventional photovoltaic systems it uses lenses or curved mirrors to focus sunlight onto small highly efficient multi junction mj solar cells in addition cpv systems often use solar trackers and sometimes a cooling system to further.
This is ideal in space where the sun is a single light source.
A solar concentrator is a system for concentrating solar energy.
The solar energy technologies office seto supports research and development of concentrating solar thermal power csp technologies that reduce the cost of solar energy.
Concentrators work best when there is a single source of light and the concentrator can be pointed right at it.
Solar concentrators put one of these lenses on top of every solar cell.
The devices are mainly comprised of series of lens or mirror assembly heat.
This makes much more focused light come to each solar cell making the cells vastly more efficient.
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.