Originally designed to focus the light of lighthouse beacons; Fresnel lenses have also had a major impact on solar power.
Developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel in the 1800’s; Fresnel lenses have more recently been put to good use in Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) applications, where sunlight is focused via the lens onto special solar cells capable of enduring the greatly magnified light and associated heat. Fresnel lenses also feature in Ford’s C-Max Solar Energi concept.
Often a bulky device when used in conjunction with solar power, two researchers from the State Key Laboratory of Precision Measuring Technology & Instruments at Tianjin University in China have developed a technology that allows them create a Fresnel lens that consists of an array of microscopic cones instead of concentric ridges.
This technology could be used to create almost flat Fresnel lenses that could be applied to boost the efficiency of standard solar panels.
Y. Cheng, X.D. Zhang and G.X. Zhang say they can obtain a peak power four times that possible with a standard panel at low resistance.
While heat is the enemy of solar panels, and heat is created when using Fresnel lenses in such a manner, the researchers state the difference in output would be enough to offset the additional cost of the Fresnel collector so that the overall cost of solar panels could be reduced; i.e. a smaller panel could generate more power. The technology could also be used on existing solar power systems already in use.
The researchers’ paper, “Design and machining of Fresnel solar concentrator surfaces” has been published in the International Journal of Precision Technology
Founded in 1895 as Peiyang University, Tianjin University (TU) was the first university in China and is one of the largest multidisciplinary engineering universities in the nation.
