A Review of Solar Photovoltaic Concentrators

Table 3

Advantages and disadvantages of solar concentrators.

Type of concentrator	Advantages	Reference	Disadvantages	Reference
Fresnel lens	(i) Small volume; (ii) Light weight; (iii) Mass production	[30]	(i) Imperfection on the edges of the facets, causing the rays to be improperly focused at the receiver; (ii) Possibility of lost light due to incidence on the draft facet; (iii) Luminance is necessarily reduced in order to minimize the upper disadvantages	[133, 134]
Quantum dot concentrator	(i) Nontracking concentrator; (ii) Have less problems of heat dissipation; (iii) Sheets are inexpensive and are suitable architectural components	[25, 54]	Developing QDCs was restricted by stringent requirements of the luminescent dyes	[55, 56]
Parabolic trough	Make efficient use of direct solar radiation	[135]	(i) Use only direct radiation; (ii) high cost; (iii) low optical and quantum efficiencies	[135]
Compound parabolic concentrator	Most of radiation within the acceptance angle can transmit trough the output aperture into receivers	[136]	Needs good tracking system in order to get maximum efficiency	[137]
Dielectric totally internally reflecting concentrator	(i) Higher efficiency and concentration ratio than CPC; (ii) Work without any needs of cooling features	[84]	Cannot efficiently pass all of the solar energy that it accepts into a lower index media	[84]
Hyperboloid concentrator	Very compact	[87]	Need to introduce lens at the entrance aperture to work effectively	[87]
RR, XX, XR, RX, and RXI	(i) Achieving the theoretical maximum acceptance angle concentration; (ii) High concentration; (iii) Lighter weight; (iv) Less expensive tracking system	[93, 138]	The size of the cell must be kept to minimum to reduce shadowing effect	[138]