Fresnel solar thermal power generation

Can Fresnel lenses be used for solar energy?

Fresnel lenses can be pressure-molded, injection-molded, cut, or extruded from a variety of plastics and the production costs for large outputs are considerably low. The first attempts to use Fresnel lenses for collection of solar energy occurred at the time when suitable plastics such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) became available in the 1950s.

Does a Fresnel lens solar concentrator meet thermal requirements?

The genetic-themed hierarchical algorithm GTHA was used to find the design properties of the Fresnel lens solar concentrator, meeting the thermal requirements of heating-based applications. Two experimental studies were used to verify the optimization method, a solar welding system and a solar Stirling engine system.

What is a solar linear Fresnel collector system?

Solar linear Fresnel collector systems are called ‘Fresnel’ after the great French optical physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (Wikipedia, 2019), who in about 1818 discovered that the effect of large lenses can be duplicated using many small lens components. However, he was long preceded by the famous polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.

How does Fresnel work?

It was found that the collection of 60-80% of the transmitted solar radiation through the Fresnel lenses on linear absorbers leaves the rest amount to be distributed in the interior space for the illumination and thermal building needs.

Can Fresnel lenses be used for building integrated photovoltaics?

Though imaging Fresnel lenses can be used as solar lighting elements , in buildings, non-imaging Fresnel lens concentrators is another choice for building integrated photovoltaics.

Can a genetically themed hierarchical algorithm design a Fresnel lens solar concentrator?

A novel genetically themed hierarchical algorithm (GTHA) has been investigated to design Fresnel lens solar concentrators that match with the distinct energy input and spatial geometry of various thermal applications. Basic heat transfer analysis of each application decides its solar energy requirement.