The energy of the sun is captured by solar concentrators which is then directed to a focal point and transported into the solar cells to be converted into electricity. Solar cells are also semiconductor diodes and because of the photovoltaic effect, the energy absorbed by the photons is converted into electrical current. The contact to a solar cell is possible because of metal conductors. When the photons in the sun’s rays strike a solar panel, they are absorbed by the semiconductor materials like silicon. The negatively charged electrons are separated from their atoms and they float around the semiconductor material until they find their way to the solar cells that produce electricity.

The design of the solar cells lets the electrons move in a single direction. A group of these solar cells in an array now transforms the energy into direct current or DC electricity. Present solar concentrator technology designs that are available today make use of arrays of individual lenses that directs energy to the photovoltaic (PV) cells. These cells need to be aligned and connected. An open circuit lets the energy be converted into electricity. The more silicon solar cells are used in a solar concentrator system, the more expensive it is.

However, a new design of solar concentrator collects sunlight using tiny lenses imprinted on a sheet but all energy trapped is transported into one PV cell. This new design shows that the lesser photovoltaic cells are used, the lesser it will cost. This idea looks promising in as much as solar silicon still remains as one of the main materials used to make solar cells work though they are not the most effective. Further research and development may improve its efficiency level and together with the new design, there is hope that people will enjoy the use of the sun’s limitless energy for their everyday needs without spending a fortune on it.

A solar concentrator is playing a large part in the search for alternate energy sources. Solar power has been around for a long time; however solar power has not been a viable alternative to electricity purchased directly from the grid.  Solar has lagged behind in becoming a competitive alternative and has largely remained a higher cost source of electricity.  It has been used as a means of charging batteries in remote places to operate radios or portable signs, but the higher cost has not brought the technology to the masses.

 The development of solar concentrators and their application in increasing the efficiency of solar arrays will increase the likelihood that solar power can become a cheap competitor to coal or natural gas fired electrical generation systems.  Solar concentrators work by means of a Fresnel lens on top of the photovoltaic cell to concentrate the light into a strong beam into one part of the cell.  The concentration of light increases the efficiency and output of the pv cell making the solar arrays smaller in size and reducing their cost as fewer pv cells need to be used in each array.  Other means to increase efficiency of solar arrays have involved tracking systems that track the array along with the sun increasing the amount of time that full sunlight is shined on the array.

 Solar cells have worked very well in outer space, mainly because there is a single light source in outer space, namely the sun and the light is better focused on each cell.  This gave way to the idea of the solar concentrator and only recently has it moved from the laboratory out into the mainstream.  Testing is being done on various designs of solar concentrators and there have even been some large scale deployments of solar arrays using the concentrator technology.  Again, the benefit of the concentrator is that these large scale projects only need about half the acres covered in pv cells that earlier projects needed. The hope would be that with increased testing and experimentation that one day every house would have a solar roof to help power the household, made possible by concentrating sunlight.