Design and evaluation of polycarbonate microlens arrays for hybrid concentration photovoltaic cells

Abstract

The concept and design for a novel integration of microlens arrays and hybrid concentration photovoltaic cells were examined. Designs to increase the collection efficiency of solar cells for both direct and diffuse illumination were created and rigorously simulated. Promising designs were fabricated and tested in both real-world outdoor conditions as well as indoor controlled experiments in order to measure collection efficiency.