Sandia´s Baseline 3 photovoltaic concentrator module

The design, fabrication, and testing of a photovoltaic concentrator module that can readily be adapted for commercial production are presented. It consists of a 2 by 12 parquet of lenses arranged with 24 cells in an aluminum housing. The cells are soldered directly to a copper heat spreader, eliminating the expensive ceramic wafer that has been used in previous designs. The aluminum housings are anodized and electrophoretically coated, with a high-temperature acrylic, creating a thin (50 mu m) electrically isolating layer capable of withstanding 3000 V. No additional electrical insulation between the electrically-live heat spreader and the housing is required, thereby enhancing heat transfer and, in combination with the copper heat spreader, eliminating the need for a separate heat sink.