Shaping the angular divergence at sun simulators for concentrator modules

A method for shaping the angular divergence at sun simulators is presented. The method is applied to a sun simulator for concentrator modules which use one light source. Diffuse reflectors with different radial symmetric patterns are used to simulate different levels of circumsolar ratios. The impact of the simulated circumsolar radiation is shown for two different photovoltaic concentrator modules. One module is equipped with reflective secondary optical elements while the other is equally manufactured but without secondary. The module with the secondaries showed a better angular transmission, especially for angles between 0.5° and 2.0°. When the angular divergence at a sun simulator is shaped in order to simulate higher ratios of circumsolar radiation, the efficiency of both modules are found to decrease. However, the relative performance loss of the secondary module is several percent lower than this of the module without secondaries