The new generation of luminescent solar concentrators for building-integrated photovoltaic

Franco MEINARDI, Università di Milano-Bicocca

The new generation of luminescent solar concentrators for building-integrated photovoltaic.

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) consist of semitransparent plastic slabs doped with chromophores which, upon absorption of the sunlight, emit long-wavelength photons. This light is then converted into electricity by PV cells installed along the slab perimeter. Thanks to their easy integration into active architectural elements, LSCs are considered one of the most promising complement for the achievement of net zero-energy consumption buildings in urban areas, where rooftop surfaces are insufficient for collecting all the energy required for the building operations.

Recently, we improved the LSC technology by using wavefunction-engineered nanoparticles (NPs) as active chromophores. We fabricated large-area environmentally friendly LSCs that, despite an average transparency of 80% across the visible spectrum, provide an unmatched optical-power conversion efficiency as high as 3.2%. Ray tracing simulations indicate that, by using NPs with an optimized photoluminescence, it is possible to raise the LSC performances up to 5-7% for linear dimensions as large as one meter. Even more importantly, our LSCs are essentially colorless, which is a key requirement for their application to building-integrated photovoltaic.

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