Unlike the more common CPV designs that use lenses, the SST CPV design is based on a nominal 1 kW “dense array” building block CPV module. The CPV module uses water cooling, circulated in a closed loop to a radiator like a car engine cooling system, and so it is dry-air cooled and does not consume water. This liquid cooling method provides better thermal management of CPV solar cells operating under very high concentration – over 1000 suns – and for better solar production in high temperature and harsh desert regions.
![cpv module](https://swsolarllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/cpv-module-page2.jpg)
CPV MODULES FOR ELECTRIC POWER
Currently SST is able to make prototype and demonstration systems in preparation for commercial manufacturing partnerships. Target cost for this Dish-CPV product is under $2/W in high-volume manufacturing, using CPV “multi-junction” PV cell technology that is on a pathway for increasingly high efficiency. Expected CPV cell improvements over time will increase the module rating from initially 1 kW (including all system losses), to about 1.7 kW per module. These efficiency gains help to reduce the effective cost of the collector system. Two-axis tracking is used which provides for about 20-30% higher energy output than a fixed-PV system of the same rating, assuming sunny conditions, and higher annual output than solar trough or tower systems.