Optimization of achromatic doublet on glass (ADG) Fresnel lens for different solar cell technologies.

Silicone on glass (SoG) Fresnel lenses are the reference technology in concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) because of their simplicity, cheapness, and proven long-term reliability. However, they are strongly affected by the chromatic aberration. In order to overcome this limitation, the achromatic doublet on glass (ADG) was proposed. Such technology merges the achromatic doublet concept and the simplicity and reliability of the SoG manufacturing process obtaining a cost-effective lens with highly reduced chromatic aberration. In previous works the ADG concept was experimentally demonstrated. Nevertheless, despite the achromatic behavior, the ADG has a low optical efficiency caused by both geometrical and absorption losses. In this work the authors present an alternative ADG architecture with the potential of significantly reduce the main sources of losses and to achieve a superior efficiency. Furthermore, an optimization of the ADG design parameters focused to its application with specific solar cell technologies is presented. The results demonstrated that the technology has the potential of achieving the same efficiency of the SoG technology maintaining the advantages of the achromatic design in term of spectral uniformity and reduced temperature dependency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]