Development of 'Rondine' Concentrating PV Module - Field Results and Progresses

In this work the experimental results of a new concentrator PV module (named Rondine) developed by CPower s.r.l. are presented. This concentrating module has a medium concentration level (~25x) and employs silicon solar cells. The tests have been carried out in Italy and the energy production of a prototypal Rondine module is compared with that produced by a tracking flat plate crystalline PV panel. The non-imaging optic of the concentrator allows for larger angular acceptance respect to many solar concentrators, giving the possibility to employ trackers for standard PV modules. The first results of a complete system of 4 kW of peak power installed in July 2008 are here presented.