Optimizing the Packing Density of Building Integrated Concentrating Photovoltaic Systems for Improved Performance and Reduced Embodied Carbon Through a Novel Polygonal Concentrator

Low packing density can influence the performance and embodied energy of building integrated concentrating photovoltaic systems. This paper discusses the software development and optical characterisation of a new family of static low concentrating photovoltaic technology, called hexagonal concentrator (3D Hex). This novel device can improve the packing density of static low concentrating photovoltaic systems by 90.5% when compared to two 3D conventional concentrators. This promises improved performance, reduced module area and lower embodied carbon. The optical analysis shows that the proposed novel design has an optical gain of 3.0, optical efficiency of 91.6% and a maximum half-acceptance angle of +/-20°.