The design, fabrication and indoor experimental characterisation of an isolated cell photovoltaic module

A significant problem in utilising the Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) in photovoltaic (PV) applications is the non-uniform illumination on the receiver which results in current reduction for PV modules in which cells are serially connected. A novel PV module with isolated cells, which yield high current for cells located in peak energy fluxes, has been designed and experimentally characterised with and without the CPC using a multi-purpose mobile solar simulator. The CPC had an acceptance half-angle of 30 and truncated geometrical concentration ratio of 1.96. Due to the variation in energy flux profile on each cell, it was found that the energy flux concentration on the surface of the PV module within the CPC varied from 0.9 to 3.6, with high energy flux being concentrated at the edges of the receiver. As a result, the cell performance parameters such as current, short-circuit current, power at maximum power point and fill factor for the cells within the CPC varied depending on the location of the cell in the PV module. The total maximum power output for the cells within the CPC was 25% higher than that without concentration. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved