In the context of achieving Net Zero targets, the adoption of compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) technology can play a vital role. The purpose of this work is to modify the design of a conventional CPC in such a way that for the same concentration ratio, and for same aperture area, the modified CPC (MCPC) will require significantly less material for its support structure, receiver and reflector: and hence will have reduced cost. The MCPC, we designed, has a concentration ratio of 4 and an acceptance angle 10° and requires position modification only once a month when oriented with its long axis along the East-West direction. We report experiments on an experimental prototype: the solar-to-thermal efficiency of which was 35.7% and cost of which was below $60/m. This MCPC enables inexpensive and convenient generation of heat applications including driving low temperature industrial process heating, generation of hot water, hot air for drying, space-heating and even cooking. This can directly contribute to meeting Net Zero goals and furthermore address the problem of deforestation due to use of wood for domestic cooking. Also, since the MCPC can be manufactured using technologies available even in semi-urban regions of the Sun-belt, use of the MCPC can also boost local manufacturing economies providing dignified employment opportunities in currently underserved parts of the world.

中文翻译：

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设计和开发一种新颖且具有成本效益的改进型复合抛物面槽式集热器

在实现净零目标的背景下，采用复合抛物面聚光器（CPC）技术可以发挥至关重要的作用。这项工作的目的是修改传统 CPC 的设计，使得对于相同的聚光比和相同的孔径面积，改进的 CPC (MCPC) 的支撑结构、接收器和反射器所需的材料将显着减少：因此成本会降低。我们设计的MCPC的聚光比为4，接收角为10°，长轴沿东西方向定向时，每月仅需修改一次位置。我们报告了一个实验原型的实验：其太阳能热效率为 35.7%，成本低于 60 美元/平方米。该 MCPC 可实现廉价且方便的热应用，包括驱动低温工业过程加热、产生热水、用于干燥的热空气、空间供暖甚至烹饪。这可以直接有助于实现净零目标，并进一步解决由于使用木材进行家庭烹饪而导致的森林砍伐问题。此外，由于即使在阳光地带的半城市地区也可以使用现有技术来制造 MCPC，因此使用 MCPC 还可以促进当地制造业经济，为世界上目前服务不足的地区提供有尊严的就业机会。