5 ms·

You can't build passive systems out of concentrated cells... It only works when the lens is aligned with the sun, so you'd get power a couple of minutes per day

• jacquesm 12y ago
  Yes, that's the obvious downside of concentrators. Which has been discussed to boredom in the tech literature. You can basically do any one of the following: - passive, non concentrated - ordinary panels but tracking the sun in either 1 or 2 axis - trough (sp?) concentrators to a cylindrical collector, tracking in one axis (no significant gain from tracking the other axis) - parabolic concentrators to a collector moving with the parabola, tracking in two axis - parabolic concentrators to a stationary collector (I built a prototype like this) tracking in two axis The latter can come in two variations, one where the collector is placed on a post or one where it is placed close to the ground. These require different degrees of complexity and freedom of movement for the trackers. So yes, any kind of concentrator will be associated with some kind of tracking.