| Summary: | Global warming and climate change have become hot topics for discussion both nationally and internationally and as such, solar energy has gained better public appreciation for being renewable and clean.
Singapore, being located just above the equator, receives a huge amount of sunlight throughout the year. Its geographical location makes it an excellent place for solar photovoltaic applications. However, due to the high cost of the solar panels, the adoption of solar photovoltaic is slow. One of the many ways to make solar energy more economical is the use of concentrators. Concentrators use optics such as lens and mirrors to boost the intensity of light on the absorption area of the solar module. This translates to greater conversion efficiency. Thus more power can be generated with a smaller solar cell. However, there is a general consensus that concentrators can only be used in areas with abundant amounts of direct sunlight. Bound by the water bodies, Singapore experiences huge amounts of rainfall and cloudy skies throughout the year. This means that direct beams from the Sun is often blocked by the overhead cloud. With only intermittent periods of direct sunlight, the use of solar concentrator systems is not a clear cut solution to the cost-effectiveness of a solar photovoltaic system.
This project aims to explore the feasibility of using a low cost concentrator called the V-trough, for the local climate. A V-trough module is a solar panel with mirrors attached to its sides. These mirrors reflect the incoming light rays onto the photovoltaic surface of the module, giving efficiency boost to the solar module. Since the mirrors are relatively cheaper than the solar modules, this technology holds economic potential.
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