Performance comparison of four kinds of flat nonimaging Fresnel lenses made of polycarbonates and polymethyl methacrylate for concentrated photovoltaics

Solar concentrators made of a single refractive primary optics are limited to a concentration ratio of about 1000x [Opt. Express 19, A280 (2011)], due only to longitudinal chromatic aberration, while mirrors are limited to similar to 46, 000x by the angular size of the Sun. To reduce the chromatic aberration while keeping cost-effective systems for concentrated photovoltaics, a study of four different kinds of flat Fresnel doublets made of polycarbonates and polymethyl methacrylate is presented. It reveals that Fresnel doublets may have fewer optical losses than non-Fresnel doublets, with a lower lateral chromatic split allowing for even higher concentration ratio. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America