Concentrator photovoltaics

August 7, 2:30 pm

GoldWater Center (GWC) , Room 487, ASU Tempe Campus

Speaker:

Jeffrey M. Gordon, Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Israel

Abstract:

Unprecedented capabilities for ultra-efficient yet affordable solar electricity generation at high concentration stem from the confluence of progress in multi-junction photovoltaic technologies and advanced optical design. Several generations of new optics that approach the thermodynamic limit to concentration and optical tolerance, and have been tailored to the exigencies of the latest generations of concentrator solar cells, will be presented, some of which already comprise megawatt-scale installations. In addition, experimental results from novel localized irradiation probes that use ultra-intense concentrated sunlight for investigating concentrator solar cells will be reviewed. The findings include elucidating cell solid-state properties that are of value in designing future generations of higher-efficiency solar converters. (Time permitting, a review of the unorthodox use of highly concentrated sunlight for medical surgery and for the synthesis of lucrative inorganic nanomaterials will also be covered.)