Whitfield Solar Ltd

The renewable energy arena was revolutionised in 2004 when Whitfield Solar was formed. The company was created to commercialise three decades of research into low-cost solar concentrators by Dr George Whitfield from the University of Reading and to tap into the wealth of opportunities this pioneering technology offered. Dr Whitfield was joined at t... he Solar Concentrator Group by fellow founders Dr Roger Bentley and Dr Clive Weatherby. They focussed on developing the most cost-effective PV concentrator systems by optimising of the size of optical aperture and concentration ratios. The research at Reading not only modelled the relationship between concentration, aperture size and cost but addressed the realities and challenges of manufacture. Whitfield's CPV technology competes with flat-plate photovoltaic (PV) products on four levels: lower cost, lower weight, lower embodied energy and lower-tech manufacturing processes. Using a fraction of the surface area of silicon solar cells that conventional PV panels requires, Whitfield's product takes the sun's energy and concentrates it via an array of Fresnel lenses. This process therefore protects our customers from potential shortages of solar silicon and solar glass, both of which threaten the PV industry. Although tried and tested solar silicon was used for Whitfield's launch product, our platform is designed to accept other cell technologies - but only once we are confident our customers will be provided with a better combination of overall cost and output. By creating a system that relies on a range of highly efficient, but proven, manufacturing technologies, Whitfield Solar can transfer the benefits of engineering excellence to a CPV product whilst opening the door to the enormous cost savings that are associated with these high-volume techniques. Unlike other approaches to alternative concentrators, our core components will be manufactured in multi-million quantities, even at quite modest overall product volumes, ensuring significant economies of scale. Not ...Read More