On the Use of Optical Waveguides in Hybrid Photovoltaic Solar Thermal Energy Converters

We analyze a variety of optical filtering technologies and find that fiber and rod waveguides provide some thermal distribution advantages as well as useful filtering capabilities for solar energy applications. We define photovoltaic and hybrid improvement factors which characterize the utility of optical filters for solar energy applications. Comparison of two types of optical fiber filtered concentrators is then facilitated by this metric.