Johnsen Håkon J D, Aksnes Astrid, Torgersen Jan
Opt Express. 2020 Jul 6;28(14):20503-20522. doi: 10.1364/OE.396477.
Beam-steering lens arrays enable solar tracking using millimeter-scale relative translation between a set of lens arrays. This may represent a promising alternative to the mechanical bulk of conventional solar trackers, but until now a thorough exploration of possible configurations has not been carried out. We present an approach for designing beam-steering lens arrays based on multi-objective optimization, quantifying the trade-off between beam divergence and optical efficiency. Using this approach, we screen and optimize a large number of beam-steering lens array configurations, and identify new and promising configurations. We present a design capable of redirecting sunlight into a <2 divergence half-angle, with 73.4% average yearly efficiency, as well as a simplified design achieving 75.4% efficiency with a <3.5 divergence half-angle. These designs indicate the potential of beam-steering lens arrays for enabling low-cost solar tracking for stationary solar concentrators.
光束转向透镜阵列能够通过一组透镜阵列之间毫米级的相对平移来实现太阳能跟踪。这可能是传统太阳能跟踪器庞大机械结构的一个有前景的替代方案，但到目前为止，尚未对可能的配置进行全面探索。我们提出了一种基于多目标优化设计光束转向透镜阵列的方法，量化了光束发散与光学效率之间的权衡。使用这种方法，我们筛选并优化了大量光束转向透镜阵列配置，并确定了新的且有前景的配置。我们展示了一种能够将太阳光重定向到发散半角小于2°的设计，年平均效率为73.4%，以及一种简化设计，在发散半角小于3.5°时效率达到75.4%。这些设计表明了光束转向透镜阵列在为固定太阳能聚光器实现低成本太阳能跟踪方面的潜力。
