vortex-l  

Re: [Vo]:Fresnel focused solar

Jones Beene
Sat, 03 May 2008 20:07:16 -0700

--- Michael,

Hey, we kibitzers were merely waiting for you to
"focus some light" on the subject, so to speak ... 

BTW- have you had a comparative look at what would be
the optimum level of 'shrinkage' for the solar cell
itself when under Fresnel concentration ?

... let me see if I can ask that question more
clearly. OK- you can probably make the lens any given
size fairly easily, but if you were to find that for a
given ratio- let's say that a 100:1 concentration
works well for a certain type of solar cell, would you
be better off having the cell itself cut small- say 1
cm^2, or even 1 mm^2, or even smaller? 

The reason for asking is that a tracking mechanism
would no doubt be more efficient with a multitude of
smaller units, as opposed to fewer larger ones. This
would also facilitate putting a flatter array onto a
home roof, without the unsightly arms of a larger
mechanism.

Jones