On-sun testing of a 100-shingled-cell dense receiver array at ∼50 W/cm² using overlapped single-axis foci

Dish CPV can achieve high concentration at low cost by overlapping the foci of single-axis mirrors into an oblong compound focus, which secondary optics can convert to a rectangular focus with even intensity on its major axis. The resulting focus is suitable for a dense receiver array with rows of cells-in-parallel on the minor axis with the rows themselves in series along the major axis. A dense receiver array was previously proposed in which multiple receiver segments are covered with rows of CPV cells that are shingled to minimize gaps in the photoreceptive surface. Segments are built on thermal-expansion-matched micro-channel cold plates for up to 1000× concentration. Segments share a coolant manifold and a steel housing with cooled secondary mirrors, so a receiver with hundreds of cells can be handled in-field as a unit. The first receiver segments have been built, populated with cells and flash-tested, and the first segment has been installed in a receiver and tested on sun at up to 50 W/cm² at the focus of a multiple-single-axis-mirror dish.