On-Field Demonstration Results of Medium Concentration System HSun®

The paper presents the HSUN®, a new medium concentration photovoltaic (CPV) system, developed and produced by WS Energia S.A. The low cost manufacturing and standard components used by HSUN® technology increases the potential of the system to reach grid parity.The system was designed to have stable performance and low cost manufacturing, with a total active collector area of 1.68 m2 and 6.3 kg/m2 of weight. Based on a 20X integrated parabolic trough with coupled reflective secondary optics, the system uses high efficiency silicon cells, a passive cooling integrated system and is integrated in 1‐axis horizontal tracking structure, the WS CPV HORIZON®. The open‐chain configuration ensures that the wind drag is greatly reduced, increasing the reliability of the tracker, while the optimized optics design enables a high acceptance angle and uniform distribution of radiation throughout the PV receiver, using low‐cost and low‐weight components. Ray tracing simulations and experimental imaging acquisitions of the radiation profile were performed and compared, finite element models were used to perform thermal and structural analysis, and a specifically developed model was used to predict the electrical parameters of the receiver as a function of the concentration.All the components that integrate HSUN® technology are produced with machines used in mature industrial sectors thus guarantying mass production and benefiting from economies of scale. The on‐field results are presented and discussed.