Skip to main content

Tracking Integration for Rooftop CPV

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Concentrating Photovoltaics (CPV): The Path Ahead

Part of the book series: Green Energy and Technology ((GREEN))

  • 650 Accesses

Abstract

The last unique part of the CPV system that we have not discussed yet, and the part that most directly constrains CPV, is the sun tracker. The need for sun tracking is a direct consequence of the optical principles discussed in the last chapter: since a concentrator necessarily has a restricted acceptance angle, and the sun’s apparent position in the sky varies over the course of the day, and with the seasons, tracking is the only way to keep a system operating for more than, in most cases, a few minutes per day.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Winston, R. (1974). Principles of solar concentrators of a novel design. Solar Energy, 16, 89–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Winston, R., Miñano, J. C., & Benitez, P. G. (2005). Non-imaging Optics. Cambridge: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Rabl, A. (1976). Comparison of solar concentrators. Solar Energy, 18, 93–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Shanks, K., Senthilarasu, S., & Mallick, T. K. (2016). Optics for concentrating photovoltaics: Trends, limits and opportunities for materials and design. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 60, 394–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Duffie, J. A., & Beckman, W. A. (1980). Solar engineering of thermal processes.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Díaz-Dorado, E., Suárez-García, A., Carrillo, C. J., & Cidrás, J. (2011). Optimal distribution for photovoltaic solar trackers to minimize power losses caused by shadows. Renewable Energy, 36, 1826–1835.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kerr, A. (2013). Home Power Magazine.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Philipps, S., Bett, A., Horowitz, K., & Kurtz, S. (2015). Current status of concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) technology. CO.: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  9. Bushong, S. (2016). Solar Power World.

    Google Scholar 

  10. GreentechMedia. (2012). To Track or Not to Track. https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Solar-Balance-of-System-To-Track-or-Not-to-Track-Part-I.

  11. Ong, S., Campbell, C., Denholm, P., Margolis, R., & Heath, G. (2013). Land-use requirements for solar power plants in the United States. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 140.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Apostoleris, H., Stefancich, M., & Chiesa, M. (2016). Tracking-integrated systems for concentrating photovoltaics. Nature Energy, 16018.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Apostoleris, H., Leland, J., Chiesa, M., & Stefancich, M. (2016). In SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, (pp. 995507–995506). International Society for Optics and Photonics.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Coughenour, B. M., et al. (2014). Dish-based high concentration PV system with Köhler optics. Optics Express, 22, A211–A224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Antonini, A., Stefancich, M., Coventry, J., & Parretta, A. (2013). Modelling of compound parabolic concentrators for photovoltaic applications. International Journal of Optics and Applications, 3, 40–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Liu, Z., Lapp, J., & Lipiński, W. (2012). Optical design of a flat-facet solar concentrator. Solar Energy, 86, 1962–1966.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Hallas, J. M., Karp, J. H., Tremblay, E. J., & Ford, J. E. (2012). In SPIE Solar Energy + Technology, (pp. 776904–776907). International Society for Optics and Photonics.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Grede, A. J., Price, J. S., & Giebink, N. C. (2016). Fundamental and practical limits of planar tracking solar concentrators. Optics Express, 24, A1635–A1646.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Price, J. S., Sheng, X., Meulblok, B. M., Rogers, J. A., & Giebink, N. C. (2015). Wide-angle planar microtracking for quasi-static microcell concentrating photovoltaics. Nature communications, 6.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Cheng, J. (2018). In APS March Meeting Abstracts, 1261.

    Google Scholar 

  21. DiDomenico, L. D. (2015). Towards doubling solar harvests using wide-angle, broad-band microfluidic beam steering arrays. Optics Express, 23, A1398–A1417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Zagolla, V., Tremblay, E., & Moser, C. (2014). Proof of principle demonstration of a self-tracking concentrator. Optics Express, 22, A498–A510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Apostoleris, H. N., Chiesa, M., & Stefancich, M. (2016). In SPIE Optical Engineering + Application, (pp. 95720A–95726). International Society for Optics and Photonics.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Harry Apostoleris .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Apostoleris, H., Stefancich, M., Chiesa, M. (2018). Tracking Integration for Rooftop CPV. In: Concentrating Photovoltaics (CPV): The Path Ahead. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62980-3_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62980-3_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62979-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62980-3

  • eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics