Solar EnergyPub Date : 2025-09-02DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113945
Le Cai , Kuihu Zhang , Aiying Chen , Huiqiang Zhang , Chen Hu , Suwei Zhang , Pengxin Wang , Xiaoyu Zhang , Ming Wen , Yunxiu Chao
{"title":"Enhanced photovoltaic output of flexible polyethylene vinylacetate film heterogenized by chalcogenide quantum dots","authors":"Le Cai , Kuihu Zhang , Aiying Chen , Huiqiang Zhang , Chen Hu , Suwei Zhang , Pengxin Wang , Xiaoyu Zhang , Ming Wen , Yunxiu Chao","doi":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113945","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113945","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A flexible composite film of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) containing chalcogenide quantum dots (PQDs) is developed, aiming to enhance photovoltaic efficiency by dual benefits of down-conversion effect of PQDs and solar panel cooling. Microstructural and optical characterizations by TEM, XPS, and PL spectroscopy exhibit that the PQDs/EVA film presents a transparent, flexible, durable, and stable fluorescence performances. The prepared PQDs/EVA film possesses an efficient UV-to-green light conversion and over 90 % visible light transmittance. Compared to pure EVA, the PQDs/EVA film with 4 % PQD content boosts photocurrent by 4 % and reduces surface temperature of solar panel by 3°C under one sun intensity. These performances stem from the down-conversion of UV to green light, which matches with the absorption band of silicon cell, and reduction of the surface working temperature of the solar panel. These works demonstrate the potential of PQDs/EVA film as a scalable solution to improve the solar cell performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":428,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy","volume":"301 ","pages":"Article 113945"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144926041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Solar EnergyPub Date : 2025-09-02DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113940
Ahmet Ozsoy, Mustafa Galip
{"title":"Thermal performance improvement of evacuated u-pipe solar collectors using passive elements","authors":"Ahmet Ozsoy, Mustafa Galip","doi":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113940","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113940","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This experimental study investigates the effects of different passive turbulence promoters on the thermal performance of an evacuated U-pipe solar collector (EUpSC). Despite the extensive exploration of passive heat transfer enhancement (HTE) methods in flat plate collectors within extant literature, studies on such applications in EUpSC remain scarce. The present study investigates three different turbulence promoter elements, namely twisted tape (TT), wire coil (WC), and sealing wire coil (SWC). Collector efficiency and pipe pressure losses are evaluated together. Notably, the present study introduces SWC as a passive HTE element in this type of system. Experiments were conducted under a solar simulator at four inlet temperatures and four different fluid flow rates. The results showed correlation between increased fluid flow rate and improvement in thermal efficiency, with optimum performance achieved in the range of 40–45 L/h. The highest efficiency was observed for collectors employing TT, with a percentage of 93.7 %, followed by SWC at 92.5 %, and WC at 90.9 %. The enhancement in efficiency ranged from 2 to 7 % compared with the standard collector. However, along with the increase in efficiency, a significant rise in pressure drop was observed, ranging from 280 % to 980 %. It can be concluded that achieving an optimal balance between thermal efficiency and hydrodynamic losses is a fundamental consideration in the design of the system. The findings demonstrate the significance of selecting the most appropriate passive elements and optimum fluid flow rate in EUpSC. It is anticipated that this study will further research on the efficiency and enhancement of EUpSC.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":428,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy","volume":"301 ","pages":"Article 113940"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144926042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Solar EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-30DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113927
Arefin Ittesafun Abian , Sami Azam , David Ompong , Deepika Mathur
{"title":"Comprehensive review of the material life cycle and sustainability of solar photovoltaic panels","authors":"Arefin Ittesafun Abian , Sami Azam , David Ompong , Deepika Mathur","doi":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113927","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113927","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Photovoltaic (PV) systems provide a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels due to their low carbon emissions and renewability. This survey followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methods and proposed five research questions (RQs) to identify sustainable raw material extraction and refinement methods in solar PV technologies. It aimed to determine the best-performing PV systems regarding energy consumption, energy payback time (EPBT), and global warming potential (GWP/CO<sub>2</sub> emissions) across generations, as well as the most efficient PV systems for outdoor use. RQ1 presented environmentally friendly raw material extraction and refinement techniques, such as glycine leaching and ionic liquids, in line with Life Cycle Assessment principles and Sustainable Development Goal 12. RQ2 indicated that single-crystalline silicon (SC-Si) (19 to 48 GJ/kW), gallium arsenide (GaAs) (10 to 20 GJ/kW), and concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) (4.3 to 13 GJ/kW) had the highest energy demands. RQ3 found that SC-Si (1–4 years), copper indium selenide (1.87–9.44 years), and organic PV cells (0.2–4 years) had the longest EPBTs. RQ4 identified the highest GWP in SC-Si (40 to 60 g CO<sub>2</sub>-eq/kWh), GaAs (40 to 70 g CO<sub>2</sub>-eq/kWh), and perovskite solar cells (20 to 60 g CO<sub>2</sub>-eq/kWh). RQ5 showed that CPV technology had the highest outdoor efficiency at 33 %. After a thorough review, we proposed future research directions, including a list of recyclables, reusable, and disposable materials to enhance PV sustainability, evaluating energy consumption across additional life cycle stages, and developing methods to extend panel lifespan, reduce replacements, and<!--> <!-->minimize<!--> <!-->waste.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":428,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy","volume":"301 ","pages":"Article 113927"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144917279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Solar EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-30DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113936
Yue Cui , Yingrui Sui , Hongduo Wu , Zhanwu Wang , Yuhong Jiang , Lili Yang , Fengyou Wang , Xiaoyan Liu , Bin Yao
{"title":"Synergistic defect regulation via Rb and Cd double doping for efficiency enhancement in Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 solar cells","authors":"Yue Cui , Yingrui Sui , Hongduo Wu , Zhanwu Wang , Yuhong Jiang , Lili Yang , Fengyou Wang , Xiaoyan Liu , Bin Yao","doi":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113936","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113936","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The efficiency of Cu<sub>2</sub>ZnSn(S,Se)<sub>4</sub> (CZTSSe) solar cells has reached a record 15.8 %, but it still lags behind that of Cu(In,Ga)Se<sub>2</sub> (CIGS) solar cells. The efficiency limitation in CZTSSe solar cells, primarily manifested as a severe open-circuit voltage deficit (V<sub>OC</sub>,def), stems from intrinsic Cu<sub>Zn</sub> antisites, defect clusters, and band tailing states. While single-cation doping partially mitigates these issues, its efficacy in simultaneously suppressing these interconnected defects remains insufficient. To address this gap, we implement a novel Rb, Cd dual-cation doping strategy in CZTSSe (RCZTSSe:Cd) via sol–gel synthesis, hypothesizing that Rb<sup>+</sup> suppresses Cu-Zn disorder (leveraging its larger ionic radius) while Cd<sup>2+</sup> reduces Zn-related defects and band tailing, acting synergistically to attenuate non-radiative recombination. When the doping ratio of Cd is 7 %, structural and optoelectronic characterizations confirm improved crystallinity, reduced defect density, and suppressed bandgap fluctuations, leading to optimized devices with a significant 16.8 mV V<sub>OC</sub> enhancement and a champion efficiency of 8.22 %. This work demonstrates dual-cation doping as a scalable approach to ameliorate band-tail states and boost CZTSSe performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":428,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy","volume":"301 ","pages":"Article 113936"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144917276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Solar EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-30DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113917
Linlin Yan , Jijian Lian , Ye Yao , Chao Ma , Peiyao Li
{"title":"Research on floating photovoltaic heat exchange mechanism and coupling with hydrodynamic and water temperature model","authors":"Linlin Yan , Jijian Lian , Ye Yao , Chao Ma , Peiyao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113917","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113917","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The floating photovoltaic (FPV) industry has witnessed accelerated expansion globally, posing critical challenges for quantitative impact assessment on water environment and predictive computational framework development for numerical simulation. This study fills these gaps by establishing a heat exchange mechanism model of FPV module and achieving spatio-temporal coupling simulations with an open-source hydrodynamic and water temperature software. Given the model’s applicability, we analyzed the sensitivity of module temperature, output power, and water temperature to key parameters. Then, using the south section of the Zhanghe control gate in the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project as a case study, the module output power, module temperature and water temperature after FPV deployment are predicted. The optimal inclination angle of the FPV module varies with time, the optimal inclination angle for maximum annual output power is determined to be 26°. Short-wave radiation flux is intercepted 54.2 % by FPV. The total net heat flux of the water surface decreases, leading to a decrease in water temperature by approximately 0.39 °C. Additionally, long-wave heat flux is released by FPV module, which offset approximately 50 % of the water temperature decrease due to short-wave radiation deduction. The research could provide technical and theoretical support for assessing the characteristics of floating photovoltaics and their impact on the water environment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":428,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy","volume":"301 ","pages":"Article 113917"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144917278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Solar EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-29DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113922
Xuhao Liu , Hao Liu , Zhoufu Wang , Wenyuan Liu , Yan Ma , Zhenghuang Quan , Xitang Wang
{"title":"Effects of particle packing structure on molten salts migration behavior and thermal properties in composite phase change materials","authors":"Xuhao Liu , Hao Liu , Zhoufu Wang , Wenyuan Liu , Yan Ma , Zhenghuang Quan , Xitang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113922","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113922","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The high-temperature losses from migration and leakage of molten salts pose significant challenges to the thermal stability of chloride-based composite phase change materials (CPCMs). To overcome the challenges, NaCl-KCl eutectic salts and MgAl<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> ceramic matrix with different particle sizes were employed to prepare the CPCMs via mixed sintering methods. In this study, the effects of particle packing on the microstructure were systematically investigated, along with their further impacts on molten salts migration and thermal properties. The results show that the continuous phase within the CPCMs changed from molten salts to MgAl<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> ceramic matrix as the particle size of MgAl<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> decreased. This change was attributed to the finer MgAl<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> particles (≤0.01 mm), which segmented and encapsulated the molten salts, thereby effectively inhibiting their migration and leakage and resulting in a 72.3 % reduction in the mass loss of the CPCMs. Although the molten salts were segmented into multiple micro-regions, leading to an increased porosity and formation of 1–5 μm pores, the MgAl<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> as the continuous phase endowed the CPCMs with enhanced cold compressive strength (48 MPa). After 100 thermal cycles, the minimum mass loss was 1.66 wt%. According to the Young-Laplace and Kelvin equations, reduced pore size from MgAl<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> particle packing increased capillary pressure and decreased vapor pressure of the molten salts, thereby suppressing their migration and evaporation. This indicates that the pores formed by particle packing also play a critical role in inhibiting molten salts leakage. This work provides a new perspective to enhance the thermal stability of chloride-based CPCMs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":428,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy","volume":"301 ","pages":"Article 113922"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144913594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Design and optimization of bifacial double perovskite solar cells under albedo conditions","authors":"Sabrina Mokrani , Toufik Bendib , Souhil Kouda , Hichem Bencherif , Mohamed Abbas , Shaeen Kalathil , Alaeddine Zereg , P. Sasikumar","doi":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113908","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113908","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study Investigates an optimized design of a bifacial perovskite solar-cell using a non-toxic, high-efficiency Cs<sub>2</sub>AgBiI<sub>6</sub> absorber. An efficient device configuration was proposed, integrating indium zinc oxide as the transparent front electrode, MoS<sub>2</sub> as ETL, and MgCuCrO<sub>2</sub> as HTL. The proposed design is systematically evaluated against conventional design employing TiO<sub>2</sub> and ZnTe as the charge transport layers, respectively. Through numerical simulations, the study carried out an extensive optimization process adjusting absorber and transport layer thicknesses, fine-tuning doping concentrations, and improving interface quality. These refinements were aimed to reducing losses, and enhancing the efficiency. To assess real-world performance, surface reflectance from various environments, including grass, concrete, and snow, was also considered. As a result, the optimized bifacial structure achieved notable gains in performance. Under front-side illumination, it recorded a <em>Voc</em> of 1.06 V, a <em>Jsc</em> of 22.18 mA/cm<sup>2</sup> a <em>FF</em> of 81.5 %, and an efficiency of 19.23 %. The rear-side illumination also yielded a strong response, with an even higher efficiency of 19.21 %, <em>FF</em> of 82.92 %. <em>Jsc</em> of 11.10 mA/cm<sup>2</sup> and <em>Voc</em> of 1.04 V underscoring the effectiveness of the design improvements. Besides, a further detailed investigation into alternative CTL materials is conducted to enhance performance and suppress interface defect losses. Candidate materials included WS<sub>2</sub>, SnS<sub>2</sub>, BCP, and BaSnO<sub>3</sub> as ETLs, and NiO, MoO<sub>3</sub>, FeS<sub>2</sub>, and Cu<sub>2</sub>O as HTLs. Among these, the SnS<sub>2</sub>/Cu<sub>2</sub>O configuration demonstrated superior performance, achieving 22.54 % efficiency under front-side illumination and 25.07 % under back-side illumination. These results highlight the importance of careful CTL selection and justify the use of SnS<sub>2</sub> and Cu<sub>2</sub>O in the proposed architecture. Altogether, the findings demonstrate the strong potential of lead-free, double PSC in bifacial photovoltaic applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":428,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy","volume":"301 ","pages":"Article 113908"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144917277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Solar EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-28DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113912
Jijian Lian , Zheng Cao , Wenhe Lu , Peiyao Li , Dongming Liu , Ye Yao , Nan Shao , Haitao Li
{"title":"Experimental investigation on the dynamic characteristics of connector and mooring force for a novel pontoon-type offshore floating photovoltaic array","authors":"Jijian Lian , Zheng Cao , Wenhe Lu , Peiyao Li , Dongming Liu , Ye Yao , Nan Shao , Haitao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113912","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113912","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To meet the growing demand for renewable energy, Offshore Floating Photovoltaic (OFPV) systems have attracted increasing attention. In this paper, a novel pontoon-type platform was proposed for OFPV plant. A series of model tests at a scale of 1:14 were conducted under both regular and irregular wave conditions. Four array configurations of varying sizes were tested to investigate the effects of wavelength, wave period, wave steepness, the number of connection nodes, and array size on the mooring force and stress responses of the connection nodes. Experimental results show that wave steepness (<em>H</em>/<em>L</em>) significantly affects both mooring forces and nodal force, with exponential growth observed when <em>H</em>/<em>L</em> > 0.02 as wave period decreases. Since arrays exhibit multiple natural frequencies, resonance with wave frequencies and harmonics must be avoided to prevent excessive tension concentration on individual mooring lines. Additionally, connection nodes near the array center experience greater loads from surrounding pontoons, leading to higher stress concentrations. Increasing the number of connection nodes between pontoons can enhance array stiffness, thereby reducing both mooring forces and stress on individual connection nodes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":428,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy","volume":"301 ","pages":"Article 113912"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144913596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Solar EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-28DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113905
Chenxu Sun, Haimiao Wu, Xingfu Liang, Aoling Xu, Jinghui Cai
{"title":"Mechanical modeling of photovoltaic modules under wind-sand and temperature coupling","authors":"Chenxu Sun, Haimiao Wu, Xingfu Liang, Aoling Xu, Jinghui Cai","doi":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113905","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113905","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To address the problem that photovoltaic (PV) modules are prone to hidden cracks in deserts, such as Gobi, and wastelands, this study constructs a PV module mechanical model of wind-sand-temperature multiphysical field coupling on the basis of classical laminate theory (CLT). The equivalent stress distribution laws of silicon solar cells under different extreme weather conditions and how PV module geometry affects these laws are analyzed. First, a wind-sand load equivalent model and a PV panel temperature prediction model are developed. Second, in accordance with CLT, temperature variables are introduced into the geometric equations to construct a thermal–mechanical coupling model of PV modules. Finally, the correctness of the model is verified by ANSYS. Results show that the equivalent stress of the silicon solar cells is the highest in the central area of the module, and a sudden equivalent stress change occurs in the edge area. The equivalent stress of the silicon solar cells is the highest in extremely cold weather, and the equivalent stress of the cover glass is the highest in extremely strong sandstorm weather. The equivalent stress of the silicon solar cells is minimized when the cover glass is 5 mm thick and the back glass is 2.4 mm thick. When the aspect ratio is less than or equal to 2, the silicon cells’ equivalent stress increases sharply with increasing load. This study provides theoretical support for analyzing hidden crack failure and optimizing the structure of PV modules.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":428,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy","volume":"301 ","pages":"Article 113905"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144913595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Solar EnergyPub Date : 2025-08-28DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113901
Yichen Yuan , Xiaoxia Lin , Xiaoling Mi , Jieqing Feng , Yuhong Zhao
{"title":"The optimization of heliostat paraboloid canting via differentiable ray tracing","authors":"Yichen Yuan , Xiaoxia Lin , Xiaoling Mi , Jieqing Feng , Yuhong Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113901","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solener.2025.113901","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In solar power systems, large-scale heliostats are typically constructed by assembling multiple rectangular facets into a paraboloid configuration. Existing researches still face substantial challenges in achieving efficient and reliable optimization of heliostat facet canting angles. To address the problem, a novel heliostat paraboloid canting optimization method based on differentiable ray tracing is proposed in this paper. To improve the concentration efficiency, this method formulates the minimization of the spot area <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>S</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>95</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> (the area enclosing 95% of the flux) as the optimization objective. An optimization model for the canting angles of the facets in the paraboloid heliostat is established, and high-precision simulations of the flux spot are conducted using a differentiable full-path Monte Carlo ray tracing algorithm, while simultaneously and automatically computing the gradient of the simulation process. The gradient is then used for iterative optimization to determine the optimal canting parameters. Furthermore, this method is efficiently implemented via GPU parallel computation. Experimental results show that, compared to the improved particle swarm algorithm, the new method reduces the optimization time for a single paraboloid heliostat from 45 min to just 1 min. More importantly, the new method can be extended to simultaneously optimize thousands of heliostats across the heliostat field. Furthermore, when compared to on-axis heliostats, the optimized paraboloid heliostat achieves a reduction of 1.5%-9.7% in the annual average <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>S</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>95</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> for a single heliostat, and in the case of the Gemasolar field, the annual average <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>S</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>95</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> of the entire heliostat field is reduced by 2.33%.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":428,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy","volume":"301 ","pages":"Article 113901"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144909030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}