RESUMEN
This work evaluates the effects of economic conditions' variations on the costs and viability of floating photovoltaics, a novel solution where modules are installed on or above water. A sensitivity analysis of key economic criteria is conducted across multiple European countries, first generating country-specific baseline scenarios and then introducing systematic variations into the input parameters. The results show that capital expenditure and electricity prices, which have both experienced significant variations in recent years, have the largest influence on the net present value and the internal rate of return. Similarly, capital expenditure and discount rate are found to be the most influencing factors for the levelized cost of electricity. Overall, this study contributes to the literature by identifying the correlations between the economic variables and the viability of floating photovoltaics. The findings can be used to assess the effectiveness of potential government policies and support mechanisms and to evaluate the viability of this technology under varying national and international economic conditions.
RESUMEN
Ultra-High Concentrator Photovoltaic (UHCPV) designs with up to more than 6000× geometrical concentration and optical efficiency of 80% are demonstrated in this paper by means of ray tracing simulations. These are developed based on Cassegrain-Koehler concentrators [Opt. Lett.41(9), 1985 (2016)], with four pairs of paraboloid-hyperboloid mirrors and a central receiver composed of four Cartesian ovals of revolution. Designs at different geometrical concentrations are analyzed based on their aspect ratios (F-number). The most compact designs exhibit highest optical efficiencies. Moreover, a 3015× geometrical concentration one-cell prototype, made of aluminum and PMMA (poly(methyl methacrylate)), is fabricated and characterized indoors, achieving an effective concentration of 938 suns. This represents the CPV module with the highest geometrical concentration that has been experimentally investigated that could be found in the scientific literature.