Intelligence Brief

TECNALIA emerges as the only Spanish representative in the APOLLON

25 November 2008

It has emerged that TECNALIA Technological Corporation, through its Energy Unit, is the only Spanish representative in the APOLLON project.
 
APOLLON focuses on the optimisation and development of Point focus and Mirror Based Spectra Splitting photovoltaic concentrating (CPV) systems. The different technology paths will be followed with due focalisation on the recognised critical issues related to each system component in order to increase CPV efficiency, assure reliability, reduce cost and environmental impact.
 
According to basqueresearch.com, the participation of TECNALIA in the project will be the responsibility of their Energy Unit, the main role of which will be aimed at the development and optimisation of the control of solar monitoring systems for both technologies.
 
The APOLLON project officially started in July. It has a total budget of more than 11.5 million euros and European financing of 8.2 million euros.
 
With reference to two systems in Point focus (PF) (where each solar cell of the PV concentrating module is installed under a dedicated optic, usually Fresnel lens or non–imaging optic elements) and In Dense array (DA) (the solar light is focalised by using just one large optical element, usually a spherical-like mirror, on an arrays of cells, usually connected in series, one beside the other), it has been decided that in the APOLLON Project research and development activities will be proposed on both PF and DA systems.
 
In particular, to reduce one the typical disadvantages of the Dense array systems, that is, the complexity of the thermal management, the concept of the spectrum splitting of the solar light will be adopted.