Spectrally-resolved measurement of concentrated light distributions for Fresnel lens concentrators.

A test method that measures spectrally resolved irradiance distribution for a concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) optical system is presented. In conjunction with electrical I-V curves, it is a means to visualize and characterize the effects of chromatic aberration and nonuniform flux profiles under controllable testing conditions. The indoor characterization test bench, METHOD (Measurement of Electrical, Thermal and Optical Devices), decouples the temperatures of the primary optical element (POE) and the cell allowing their respective effects on optical and electrical performance to be analysed. In varying the temperature of the POE, the effects on electrical efficiency, focal distance, spectral sensitivity, acceptance angle and multi-junction current matching profiles can be quantified. This work presents the calibration procedures to accurately image the spectral irradiance distribution of a CPV system and a study of system behavior over lens temperature.