New DOCFast Technology Boosts Energy Yield

Docter Optics, the world's leading producer of molded lenses for automotive projection headlights, has also been serving the solar industry for years. Vendors of concentrated photovoltaic systems (CPV) rely on Docter Optics for optical components that the company produces with the use of its special molding technology.

The reason for this is that CPV designs are based on the use of what are referred to as light pipes to concentrate the sun's rays so that they are uniformly distributed over the surface of the semiconductors that produce electricity (high-performance solar cells). Due to the stringent mechanical and optical requirements that such concentrators have to fulfill, leading-edge CPV producers generally insist upon the use of glass for these components.

These producers chose to partner with Docter Optics from the very beginning in order to benefit from unique proprietary technology that the company had been using for years to give customers all the benefits of completely automated industrial-scale lens production. This technology is also backed upon with in-depth experience gained from the production of several 100 millions of aspheric lenses for carmakers.

Since CPV concentrators are much smaller than automobile lenses and weigh significantly less, Docter Optics developed a new process especially for the CPV industry that makes it possible to mold components directly from liquid optical glass. One advantage of this process is that the type of molten glass used can be chosen specifically to meet the requirements for CPV applications. Another benefit is that processes can also be designed to permit economic production of components with customer-specific shapes and forms in large or extremely large quantities.

In the course of an initial testing and pilot phase extending over a period of several years, Docter Optics was able to convincingly demonstrate that its new DOCFast technology can satisfy even the most stringent requirements of the CPV industry.

The necessary optical performance is also guaranteed since DOCFast technology gives CPV producers the possibility of sourcing concentrators with the ideal optical design for their specific applications. That adds up to high light yield and energy production – low total cost of ownership guaranteed.

Docter Optics supports the CPV industry with a complete array of services and expertise in the areas of optical design, moldmaking and international logistics.

Docter Optics will exhibit at Solar Power International in Orlando, Florida, from September 10 – 13, 2012, (Booth no. 2656) and also attend the important 4th Concentrated Photovoltaic Summit on October 15 and 16 in San Jose, California. Docter Optics CEO Dr. Jan Hamkens will also give a presentation entitled "What can Optics Provide? No CPV without Optics – Why Strong Players use Optimized Glass Design" before a body of international specialists at the CPV Summit.