Optical performance of a seasonally adaptive asymmetric compound parabolic concentrator

Stationary concentrators have the capabilities to supply power in residential and commercial applications, where typical required temperatures range between 20° and 400°. To advance the performance and possible applications of these devices, this work presents an innovative asymmetric stationary concentrator, called Seasonally Adaptive ACPC, which maximizes concentration by semi-annual solar pseudo-tracking. The concentrator is described, and its performance is analyzed using theoretical, numerical, and experimental methods. The former includes the adaptation of the source-acceptance map matching method for ACPCs and the theoretical performance of possible designs; and numerical studies used Monte Carlo ray tracing to investigate optical performance parameters. Experimental efforts involved measuring the optical performance of a practically relevant prototype (ϑin,1=0°, ϑin,2=90°, and a Cg=2×) in Toronto, Canada, using an innovative flux mapping procedure. Through this work, the Seasonally Adaptive ACPC was found to be a low-cost alternative to meet low to medium temperature heating demands at high latitudes.