Design of a Simple Structure for the D-SMTS Concentrator

This work addresses the designing of both the structure and the heat sinks of the D-SMTS photovoltaic concentrator, aiming simplicity and lightness. This mirror-based linear system offers a noticeable increased acceptance angle with respect to classical line-focus solutions for the same concentration level. Accuracy is then feasible to be relaxed at some assorted levels, owing to this high acceptance angle. The design of a novel light structure that, for instance, uses heat sinks as supporting beams and mirrors as heat sink fins has been carried out. After a brief review of the D-SMTS main features, sections 2 and 3 are devoted to the design of the heat sinks and the structural analysis, respectively, of an approximately 3×3 meters array with four D-SMTS of geometrical concentration 30x. The calculation of the yearly-averaged optical efficiency predicted for this system is showed in section 4 and conclusions will be highlighted in section 5.