Prototype Design, Manufacturing, and Testing

Abstract

Prototyping describes the practical realization of the theoretical concept of the nonimaging Fresnel lens. The steps that are to be taken in order to get a working prototype of the lens manufactured are as follows:

• Decide what prototype to build. The number of possible combinations of acceptance half-angle pairs for the nonimaging lens is infinite. An educated guess towards the most useful lens in terms of suitability for testing its characteristics and later applications has to be performed.

• Redesign the lens, based on the existing computer simulation, to incorporate manufacturer’s constraints. The shaped nonimaging lens is produced as a flat-sheet lens.

• Specify the actual manufacturing process, in order to assess tolerances and possibilities for future mass production.

• Assemble the lens in a solar collector in order to test the characteristics of the obtained prototype.