title: Total internal reflection-based planar waveguide solar concentrator with symmetric air prisms as couplers.
abstract: We present a waveguide coupling approach for planar waveguide solar concentrator. In this approach, total internal reflection (TIR)-based symmetric air prisms are used as couplers to increase the coupler reflectivity and to maximize the optical efficiency. The proposed concentrator consists of a line focusing cylindrical lens array over a planar waveguide. The TIR-based couplers are located at the focal line of each lens to couple the focused sunlight into the waveguide. The optical system was modeled and simulated with a commercial ray tracing software (Zemax). Results show that the system used with optimized TIR-based couplers can achieve 70% optical efficiency at 50 × geometrical concentration ratio, resulting in a flux concentration ratio of 35 without additional secondary concentrator. An acceptance angle of ± 7.5° is achieved in the x-z plane due to the use of cylindrical lens array as the primary concentrator.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Huichuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Baojun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007909:Lenses; D008027:Light; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012993:Solar Energy; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000295:instrumentation*