Evonik's PMMA Solar Fresnel lens Finds Use in Large-scale Concentrating Photovoltaics

Experts estimated the world's installed capacity for concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) at 23 megawatts in 2010. The market research company GTM Research expects annual demand to rise to more than a gigawatt by 2015. Gone are the days of small pilot plants. Forecasts in particular underline the increasing importance of CPV.

But a major prerequisite for building the solar panels is a supply of the required high-quality lenses. "We supplied PLEXIGLAS® Solar Fresnel lens parquets for over 10 MW of electricity from concentrating photovoltaics in 2011 already," says Uwe Loffler, who is responsible for the Solar Market Segment at the Acrylic Polymers Business Line of Evonik Industries. "That proved we can produce lenses for multi-megawatt projects."

PLEXIGLAS® is used for the primary lenses in the solar panels. These high-quality lens parquets can be supplied with an edge length in excess of one meter. Customers have confirmed the optical efficiency of over 87%. The key properties in this respect are high light transmission and the outstandingly accurate mold surface reproduction of the high-precision Fresnel structures. Added to this is the longevity of the material that retains its excellent transparency even in permanent use.

Evonik Industries is a worldwide manufacturer of PMMA products sold under the PLEXIGLAS® trademark on the European, Asian, African and Australian continents and under the trademark ACRYLITE® in the Americas.