This study presents a new flat-shaped lens design for solar concentration that significantly improves optical and power efficiency compared to conventional Fresnel lenses. Unlike commercial models that typically incorporate thousands of grooves, the proposed design achieves higher performance with only a few hundred, with the potential of reducing manufacturing complexity and minimizing cumulative groove-related errors. Numerical simulations conducted using Ansys Zemax OpticStudio non-sequential ray-tracing optical design software closely matched experimental measurements, confirming the accuracy and reliability of the model. The novel lens demonstrated more than a 20 % increase in maximum concentrated solar flux and overall efficiency across various concentrator sizes and focal lengths. Its focal point is precisely aligned with the intended geometric origin and exhibits negligible chromatic aberration along the focal axis. In contrast, conventional Fresnel lenses have longer focal lengths than their design equations predict and exhibit significant chromatic dispersion. A practical comparison between a commercial Fresnel lens (300 grooves) and our design (132 grooves), both 300 mm in diameter with a 300 mm focal length, demonstrated concentrated powers of 46.79 W and 51.79 W, respectively, under 830–840 Wm −2 solar irradiance. This improvement is primarily attributed to the distinct focusing strategy based solely on Snell’s law, as well as the reduced groove count, which promotes better overlap of visible and ultraviolet wavelengths at the focal point. The proposed design therefore represents a promising and cost-effective alternative for advancing solar energy technologies and related applications. • Novel type of flat refraction solar concentrating lens model, distinct in any aspect from the traditional Fresnel lens model. • Ansys Zemax simulations validated against published studies and in-house measurements confirm our findings. • Fewer grooves in our lens design reduce manufacturing complexity and optical errors, boosting performance and efficiency. • This lens delivers a 20% improvement in performance while utilizing fewer grooves than conventional Fresnel lenses. • Our design reduces chromatic aberration by analyzing concentric lens regions, optimizing focal points relative to solar spectral shifts.
Garcia et al. (Fri,) studied this question.