TY - BOOK ID - 113600094 TI - Challenge and Research Trends of Solar Concentrators AU - Liang, Dawei AU - Zhao, Changming PY - 2022 SN - 3036560386 3036560378 PB - Basel MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute DB - UniCat KW - Technology: general issues KW - History of engineering & technology KW - luminescent solar concentrator KW - solar spectrum splitter KW - power generation in space KW - microalgae KW - beam merging KW - multirod KW - Nd:YAG KW - solar furnace KW - solar flux homogenizer KW - solar laser KW - TEM00-mode KW - solar pumping KW - twisted light guide KW - top hat KW - doughnut-shaped KW - nanofluid KW - conical concentrator system KW - performance comparison KW - thermal efficiency KW - Fresnel lens KW - Gaussian source KW - groove number KW - solar flux KW - optical efficiency KW - full width at half maximum KW - concentrator KW - light guide KW - optical fiber solar system KW - solar daylighting KW - laser KW - parabolic mirror KW - solar concentrator KW - collecting efficiency KW - conical solar concentrator KW - performance analysis KW - solar energy KW - Ce:Nd:YAG KW - aspherical lens KW - side-pumped KW - uniformity KW - light-guide KW - homogenizer KW - solar-pumped laser KW - laser efficiency UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:113600094 AB - Primary and secondary solar concentrators are of vital importance for advanced solar energy and solar laser researches. Some of the most recent developments in primary and secondary solar concentrators were firstly presented. A novel three-dimensional elliptical-shaped Fresnel lens analytical model was put forward to maximize the solar concentration ratio of Fresnel-lens-based solar concentrators. By combining a Fresnel lens with a modified parabolic mirror, significant improvement in solar laser efficiency was numerically calculated. A fixed fiber light guide system using concave outlet concentrators was proposed. The absence of a solar tracking structure highlights this research. By shaping a luminescent solar concentrators in the form of an elliptic array, its emission losses was drastically reduced. Simple conical secondary concentrator was effective for thermal applications. New progresses in solar-pumped lasers by NOVA University of Lisbon were presented. By adopting a rectangular fused silica light guide, 40 W maximum solar laser power was emitted from a single Ce:Nd:YAG rod. An aspheric fused silica secondary concentrator and a small diameter Ce:Nd:YAG rod were essential for attaining 4.5 % record solar-to-laser power conversion efficiency. A novel solar concentrator design for the efficient production of doughnut-shaped and top-hat solar laser beams were also reported. More importantly, a novel solar concentrator approach for the emission of 5 kW-class TEM00 mode solar laser beams from one megawatt solar furnace was put forward at the end of this book, revealing promising future for solar-pumped lasers. ER -