Design and optimization of a compact prismatic solar concentrator

This work focuses on the optimization of a compact square prismatic single stage solar concentrator to be realized either with BK7 glass or Silopren plastic. Zemax software is used to simulate and optimize the optical surfaces. The concentrator consists of a spherical surface atop a parallelepiped, placed above an inverted truncated pyramid. The simulated optical efficiency, without any antireflective coating, ranges between 89% and 96%, with a concentration factor of 400 suns, and an acceptance angle ranging between 0.8° and 1.0°. The collection surface is 5x5 mm2, and the total concentrator height is 10 mm. The optics has been designed to operate in micro-concentrating photovoltaic modules.