Designs on solar concentration

Existing solar concentrator systems typically use arrays of individual lenses that focus directly onto independent photovoltaic cells, which all need to be aligned and electrically connected.

In contrast, Jason Karp’s new-design solar concentrator collects sunlight with thousands of small lenses imprinted on a common sheet. All these lenses then couple into a flat waveguide, which funnels light to a single photovoltaic cell.

Karp built a working prototype with just two primary optical components, therefore reducing the cost of the optics associated with the entire system. What is more, his solar concentrator is compatible with high-volume, low-cost manufacturing techniques such as the existing roll-to-roll processing techniques used to make large televisions.

Karp designed and built prototypes of the new solar concentrator in the Photonic Systems Integration Laboratory led by electrical engineering professor Joseph Ford from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

He is currently examining variations of the basic structure of the concentrator to increase both concentration and optical efficiency.