Introduction to Nonimaging Optics, 2nd Edition

6

Combination of Primaries with Flow-Line Secondaries

6.1 Introduction

Heat engines are one of the means that generate electricity from a heat source. The efficiency of these engines increases with the temperature of the source, which means that, for high efficiency, we need high temperatures. Solar energy is a clean, renewable source of energy that can generate high heat if highly concentrated. Another possible way to generate clean electricity is by using solar cells. They are, however, expensive, and it may be interesting to replace a large cell by a large optic combined with a small, highly efficient, and less expensive solar cell. This again means a high concentration of solar radiation. These are just two examples of application ...