Economic optimization of stationary nonevacuated CPC solar collectors

Stationary, nonevacuated CPC solar collectors are a promising alternative to corresponding flat plate collectors in that they offer superior yearly energy delivery at comparable cost for low-temperature thermal applications. For realistic cost scenarios, we determine optimal concentrator configurations and concentration ratios, and calculate their sensitivity to variations in relative component costs, climate, orientation and collector operating temperature. For CPC's that are to have the flexibility of either east-west or north-south orientation, optimized collectors are shown to have low concentrations of around 1.2, achieved by truncation from acceptance half angles of about 45 deg.