3 ms·
Is there still a niche for concentrators? Like for cloudy weather or restricted space. Or does the economy of scale eclipse even that accessory market
by parthianshotgun 3y ago
Is there still a niche for concentrators? Like for cloudy weather or restricted space. Or does the economy of scale eclipse even that accessory market
- jacquesm 3y agoCloudy weather is harder, not easier when using concentrators (because it concentrates parallel rays of sunlight, not ambient light). Restricted space would still need to be covered with something and here you'll find that covering it directly with photovoltaic panels is more cost effective and will get you more power for a given area. As far as I'm aware concentrators are pretty much dead except for when you need lots of localized heat, for instance a solar oven. There they definitely work better than anything that is based off photovoltaics and because they tend to be totally passive probably more rugged and reliable too.
- gumby 3y agoTo my surprise there seems to be a small revival, though I don't quite understand the applications (not that I follow it closely). In general land is less expensive than the cost of trackers or concentrators (capital cost incl installation, plus op ex of maintenance & power) so you deal with your cosine loss by just installing more panels.