Open architecture testbed for hybrid solar energy harvesting systems based on concentration by Fresnel lens

Abstract

Energy demand has motivated the development of new technologies to make energy collection more efficient, where the use of concentrating optical elements, such as Fresnel lenses, and precise tracking of the solar path are required, motivating the development of hybrid systems that integrate concentration photovoltaics and thermoelectric modules. However, these investigations do not perform the tests under the same experimental and environmental conditions, achieving the experiments on different days under different weather conditions, complicating a fair comparison between methods and configurations to define the advantages and improvements between them; hence, the development of an open architecture test bed is presented, which allows the comparison of four technologies under the same conditions at the same time by monitoring and recording instrumentation and environmental data in real-time using a two-axis solar tracking robotic system and focus control devices. The system was validated and verified through experimentation to ensure its functionality. In addition, the open architecture approach allows addition, updating, and simply changing of components or devices for specific research constraints, increasing the connectivity to communicate with other instruments in a wired or wireless way, opening the possibility of future research that integrates concepts of the Internet of Things and cloud computing. Finally, the developed open architecture test bed opens the door to research centers and universities in the training of new researchers and developers of hybrid technology, obtaining experience in this field.