System Performance Considerations for Low-Concentration Linear-Focus Silicon-Based Photovoltaic Modules

Low-concentration photovoltaic (LCPV) module designs offer several advantages related to performance, cost, and potential reliability. With only slight modification, widely available crystalline silicon cells can operate efficiently and reliably to about 3X concentration, which significantly reduces the cell contribution to the module cost and provides a large acceptance angle for the solar tracking tolerance. These module designs also benefit from the use of materials and manufacturing processes common to the mature and field proven crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) industry. This paper discusses the unique performance characteristics considered in measuring and modeling the performance of Solaria LCPV modules and systems, along with measured comparisons versus conventional silicon PV technologies.