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Concentrator Cells vs Conventional Cells

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Jason Crowell

Jan 1, 1970
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Hello, I was reading about the new A-300 cell, and on their site was a
page about concentrator PV cells at
http://www.sunpowercorp.com/html/Products/Concentrator_Cells_index.html

They appear to be somewhat more efficient at converting light into
electricity, but they raise some questions:

1) are they more cost-effective per watt generated? Since they seem to
put out a high level of power from early morning to late evening as
opposed to the peak at noon, I'd tend to think that they are more cost-
efficient.

2) would the heat spreader add a lot of weight to them? I'd hate to
cover my roof with them only to cause a cave-in. I know that a good
heatsink for a processor can weigh up to 1 pound (or more), so between
that, the cells themselves and the panel assemblies, it could get pretty
heavy.

3) are there any companies that sell and install these concentrator
panels? I have never seen them for sale before.
 
W

William P.N. Smith

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jason Crowell said:
3) are there any companies that sell and install these concentrator
panels? I have never seen them for sale before.

The reason you don't see them is that they aren't economically
feasable. Yet. The costs of the concentrating structures and heat
removal swamp the savings in solar cells, and it's cheaper and easier
to put up more traditional panels.

[Remember, the metric is "dollars per watt installed" not "watts per
square meter"]
 
A

Anthony Matonak

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jason said:
Hello, I was reading about the new A-300 cell, and on their site was a
page about concentrator PV cells at
http://www.sunpowercorp.com/html/Products/Concentrator_Cells_index.html

They appear to be somewhat more efficient at converting light into
electricity, but they raise some questions:

They are more efficient because they use a more expensive cell. The
idea being that using cheap lenses or concentrators will compensate
for the expense.
1) are they more cost-effective per watt generated? Since they seem to
put out a high level of power from early morning to late evening as
opposed to the peak at noon, I'd tend to think that they are more cost-
efficient.

They require trackers. This is why they put out roughly the same amount
of power continuously during the day. Any solar panels on trackers
will do the same thing.
2) would the heat spreader add a lot of weight to them? I'd hate to
cover my roof with them only to cause a cave-in. I know that a good
heatsink for a processor can weigh up to 1 pound (or more), so between
that, the cells themselves and the panel assemblies, it could get pretty
heavy.

Not just the heatsink, but the lenses and tracking mount as well.
I don't know the total weight. The only way is to compare actual
products. If you want the lightest panels you might want to go
with amorphous field applied laminates or the like.
3) are there any companies that sell and install these concentrator
panels? I have never seen them for sale before.

I've seen similar things in the past but to the best of my knowledge
they don't compare well on a cost per watt basis with just regular
flat panels.

Anthony
 
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