Tolerance Analysis and Characterization of Hybrid Thermal-PV Solar Trough Prototype

Hybrid thermal-PV solar trough collectors combine concentrated photovoltaics and concentrated solar power technology. In this work, we analyze the optical and mechanical tolerances that affect the solar energy collection using non-sequential ray tracing techniques. The study is complemented with a half scale prototype characterization. We aim to establish a basis for tolerances required for fabrication and manufacturing of such systems.