Plasma etching antireflection nanostructures on optical elements in concentrator photovoltaic systems

Transmission-type concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems are a potential candidate to achieve high efficiency and low cost solar energy. The use of optical elements in these systems creates reflection losses of incoming solar energy that account for about 8% to 12% depending on the optical design. In order to reduce these losses, we have nanostructured the air/optical-elements’ interfaces by using plasma etching methods on the Fresnel lens made of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and the homogenizer made of glass. On flat PMMA and glass substrates, transmittance enhancement measurements are in agreement with relative Jsc gains. The field test results using a CPV module with all textured optical-elements’ interfaces achieved 8.0% and 4.3% relative Jsc and efficiency gains, respectively, demonstrating the potential of this approach to tackle the reflection losses.