A HYBRID PRIMARY OPTICAL COMPONENT FOR OPTICAL CONCENTRATORS

摘要

A hybrid optical component that collects and concentrates incident light. The hybrid component (l) includes both refractive (4) and reflective (6) elements. In preferred embodiments, refractive and reflective components focus rays on a common focal plane (2) generally located at the bottom of the reflector (6) where they are absorbed by a device such as a photovoltaic (solar) cell. Additionally, the optical component combines both imaging and non-imaging optical elements into a single device, for improved overall performance.