Low concentration

Photovoltaics is a system for transforming solar energy into electrical energy.

In summary, there are 3 types of photovoltaic solution for producing electricity
from the sun:

• Standard photovoltaic panels: Standard PV
• « High concentration » photovoltaic systems: High CPV (HCPV)
• « Low concentration » photovoltaic systems: Low CPV (LPVC)

The concentration depends on the technology used (HCPV, LCPV) and is obtained by a set of parabolic mirrors or Fresnel lenses.
The concentrator is positioned between the sun and the photovoltaic cells. It reflects and concentrates the radiation onto a significantly smaller cell surface and thus amplifies the solar radiation received on a given point.
Concentration technologies need to capture the maximum intensity of direct light; hence we talk of DNI (Direct Normal Irradiance), the intensity of which varies according to a region’s latitude.

The advantages of low concentration

We chose this kind of technology, which uses a well-tested manufacturing process and parts, because:

• The cells are made from single-crystal optimised silicon. Consequently, « low concentration » panels benefit from all the major advances of traditional PV technologies in terms of efficiency, cost and manufacturing processes.
• The parabolic mirrors come from the thermodynamic industry, where we have more than 15 years’ experience.

In addition to the manufacturing process, the implementation and maintenance of low concentration panels are simplified. This means that our solutions are robust and that they can be assembled very close to the site where they are to be installed.