Reduced manufacturing costs and increased efficiency

The benefits of CPV compared with traditional photo-voltaic devices are:

• the efficiency of CPV is approximately double that of conventional photo-voltaic cells

• the cost of CPV is much lower than photo-voltaics, as the cost of per cm2 of the optical concentrator is much less than that of the photocell

• as much less photo-voltaic material is used, CPV systems are less susceptible to material suppy constraints.

• a critical element for heat engines and CPV are cheap and efficient solar concentrators, as the CPV cell only represents 20-30% of the complete system cost, reduction of the cost of the concentrator is vital

The Oxford solar concentrator uses a combination of single curvature reflectors which has not been exploited before which, acting together, provide a point focus.

A single curvature concentrator, such as a linear parabolic trough concentrator, has a concentration factor of only ~100; estimates for the Oxford system give a concentration of about 8000.

Single curvature surfaces can be manufactured readily made from a flat sheet, and are easily formed into the correct curvature. This is a much cheaper process than the manufacture of conventional parabolic (or spherical) dishes.

Patent Status

The Oxford invention is the subject of a patent application. Oxford University Innovation would like to talk to companies interested in commercial opportunity. Request more information if you would like to discuss this further.