Looking at the history of solar energy and renewable energy in general, the authorities and scientists have been paying much attention to the recent period, due to the depletion of fossil energy resources and the growing difficulties in solving environmental problems. The development of solar energy has led to the use of solar energy concentrators. Concentrators are used to concentrate sunlight onto PV cells. This allows for a reduction in the cell area required for producing a given amount of power. The goal is to significantly reduce the cost of electricity generated by replacing expensive PV converter area with less expensive optical material. In this chapter, the authors talk about concentrators in solar energy, especially about modules based on holographic films. Holographic solar panels (HSP) in recent decades have appeared in large-scale production and been actively used in solar energy. Evaluations of other types of existing concentrators are presented.
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Energy is the largest field of the current world economy. It`s considered one of the main life-supporting sectors of the national economy, the level of development of which largely determines the economic power of the state and its geopolitical importance in the world society. The pace of Global Electricity development is commensurate with the growth of population and economy. As the growth rate of population, of course, different types of autonomous consumers are growing. Modern achievements of technology which can`t be imagined without electrical energy, provide a high level of life and comfort for man. Therefore, the task of ensuring the safety and reliability of their work is not easy and at the same time very important, since its solution depends not only uninterrupted supply of electricity but also often the lives of people. Scientifically technical progress, the emergence of new sectors of the economy, improvement of technology, improving the quality and living conditions of people lead to the expansion of the use of electricity and increase the requirements for reliable and uninterrupted. Therefore, in order to avoid restrictions on electricity consumption, it is necessary to find new ways of using non-traditional types of energy and if possible find new types of energy sources.
One of the environmentally safe ways to provide the population with energy (electrical and thermal) is solar energy. Since conventional solar modules have low efficiency now, many talks about the inefficiency of the use and even the development of this industry. Of course, it is not so. There are several simple reasons why solar energy should develop:
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Exhaustion of Fossil Fuels;
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Clean and Safe;
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Decentralized Electricity Source;
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Space Exploration;
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Enough Territory with Good Solar Radiation;
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Energy Independence;
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New Workplace.
All the above-mentioned advantages are only a superficial assessment. It is possible to itemize the advantages of solar energy in terms of electricity and heat. There are also disadvantages to the use of solar energy and technologies that in this industry:
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Uneven Distribution of Solar Energy;
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Low Density of Solar Energy;
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Instability of Solar Energy;
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Low Efficiency of Solar Cells;
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High Cost of Solar Cells;
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Sensitive to Temperature Changes.
Conversion method of solar energy into electrical energy by means of semiconductor solar cells is currently the most developed in scientific and practical terms. It is widely used in power supply systems of spacecraft and is increasingly using in ground conditions to provide electricity of autonomous consumers (portable equipment, beacons, automatic meteorological stations etc.).
The main problem of using solar energy is the high cost of crystalline silicon, which forms the basis of solar power plants, as well as the low efficiency of modern solar batteries, due to the fact that from the entire solar spectrum only a narrow part is used to convert into electricity. Taking into account these problems, solar energy is developing in several directions; some are trying to save on the production of solar cells or looking for a new method of production to reduce their cost. Others are trying to build hybrid systems or new designs to use solar energy. There are those who are working on the creation of new elements or new technology.