Project BriefOpen Competition - Manufacturing (Discrete) (October 1999)Photovoltaic Micro-Concentrator SystemsDevelop technology for an innovative photovoltaic cell combining new silicon photocell technology with a novel light concentrator to enable low-cost, high-performance flat-panel photovoltaic units for solar power applications. Sponsor: SunPower Corporation435 Indio WaySunnyvale, CA 94086
Photovoltaic power systems that generate electricity directly from sunlight have generally taken one of two paths: inexpensive flat plate systems that simply use the light impinging on a photovoltaic cell, and more costly -- but far more efficient -concentrator systems that use a Fresnel lens or other optics to intensify the light hitting the cell. SunPower Corp. proposes to combine the virtues of both in a low-profile system with a photovoltaic cell the size of a small integrated circuit chip mounted in a molded plastic concentrator. To accomplish this SunPower will use a novel non-imaging concentrator developed at the Polytechnic University of Madrid that, for 200-fold concentration, is compact and maintains a high light-collection efficiency while reducing sun-tracking requirements by a factor of six. If successful, their devices will have significant manufacturing and performance advantages, but this will require research to solve current performance problems with small silicon photocells. The combined silicon cell and micro-concentrator unit should be easily mass produced and suitable for assembly into "flat-plate" modules that are far more efficient than conventional flat solar panels, or into simplified roof-top tracking concentrator systems at a projected cost approaching $1 per watt. If successful, the technology could help revive the U.S.'s declining share of the world photovoltaic market, which has dropped from 80 percent in 1980 to 37 percent in 1998. ATP funding will allow SunPower, a small company with limited funds, to develop the technology rapidly enough to compete with foreign competitors. SunPower will subcontract to the Institute of Solar Energy at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain, and Advanced Thermal Systems (Larkspur, Colo.)
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