Edinburgh Napier University

  The development of concentrating photovoltaic (PV) started in 1960s and over the years, a variety of concentrator designs have been explored. One of its applications is for use in building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) with the aim of producing a cheaper alternative to a traditional PV panel. This paper presents the experimental characterization of a low concentrating photovoltaic (LCPV) unit that utilizes a reverse truncated pyramid (RTP) concentrator design. The RTP has a geometrical gain of 3.61 and a total height of 40 mm. The result from indoor characterization shows that the RTP-PV device could achieve an opto-electronic gain of 3.0 with a measured half-acceptance angle of ±23.8˚. The RTP-PV can be used as a suitable alternative to traditional solar PV panels.