High Concentration PV

The Objective

Xtreme Energetics is developing an innovative approach to high concentration photovoltaics, called "XE-CPV", that has the potential to fundamentally change the way society meets its energy needs. By focusing on a scalable technology that is maximally efficient in use of land area, while using only abundant, accessible, inexpensive raw materials, we have conceived of the lowest practicable cost large-scale renewable energy infrastructure that can meet a significant fraction of our total energy needs from the smallest possible footprint of land.

The basic idea behind concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems is to concentrate the sunlight falling on a given area onto a much smaller area of photovoltaic material, thereby reducing the amount of photovoltaic material needed. Thus, a CPV design trades off inexpensive optics for costly PV material to achieve a lower $/Wp and $/kWh.

XE-CPV differs markedly from all competing high concentration photovoltaic schemes primarily by using a fundamentally new type of ultra-low-loss mirrorless concentrator, and a fundamentally new type of solar tracker (an eTracker) that is actuated electrostatically and built into each panel. Thus, whereas other CPV systems must be mounted on upright 2-axis mechanical trackers, with large dead spaces between the trackers, XE-CPV panels can be mounted horizontal, inclined or vertical, appear outwardly immobile, and completely filling a given collecting area with no gaps whatsoever. This results in a far greater energy return per unit area, and hence makes much better use of available land resources. Given the scale of the energy required to power the nation, this will become a significant advantage, given the staggering land areas needed, as we transition to a renewable energy infrastructure.