title: Ultracompact backlight-reversed concentration optics.
abstract: We demonstrate a concentration scheme based on a reversed tracing concept utilizing a conventional sidelit backlighting configuration. The optical arrangement consists of a groove sheet and a wedge plate without any coating or surface treatment. The proposed layout simultaneously exhibits two main features: coupling the collimated solar radiance into a wedge plate and guiding the flux to the exit plane of the wedge plate for use in direct daylight. The measurement revealed an optical efficiency of 52% in conjunction with an inverse aspect ratio of 9.51. In addition to the two-dimensional sidelit scheme, the proposed structure can also be rotationally convolved and extended to a three-dimensional solar concentrator with a high concentration ratio, which will certainly have an impact on solar energy and other optical functions because of its simplicity and versatility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Photonics and Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming-Chin
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.forename: Yu Lung
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Tung
authors.forename: Chung-Hao
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Tien
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007909:Lenses; D008027:Light; D008904:Miniaturization; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012993:Solar Energy