Concentrating Photovoltaics at the Solar Technology Acceleration Center

Solar Energy Technologies Office

May 11, 2016
minute read time
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This photograph shows concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems that use Fresnel lenses to concentrate sunlight onto solar cells. Researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology installed 25 kilowatts of CPV systems at the Solar Technology Acceleration Center in Aurora, Colo., to compare how solar cells from three different manufacturers perform. These modules have efficiencies of about 30%, but only require 1 one-thousandth as much solar cell coverage as conventional photovoltaic systems.