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Large‐Area Tunable Visible‐to‐Near‐Infrared Luminescent Solar Concentrators
Author(s) -
Correia Sandra F. H.,
Frias Ana R.,
Fu Lianshe,
Rondão Raquel,
Pecoraro Edison,
Ribeiro Sidney J. L.,
André Paulo S.,
Ferreira Rute A. S.,
Carlos Luís D.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced sustainable systems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.499
H-Index - 24
ISSN - 2366-7486
DOI - 10.1002/adsu.201800002
Subject(s) - materials science , optoelectronics , photovoltaic system , energy conversion efficiency , luminescence , optics , optical fiber , absorbance , fiber , core (optical fiber) , planar , composite material , physics , ecology , computer graphics (images) , computer science , biology
Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) appear as an intriguing way to cope with the limitation of the mismatch between the photovoltaic (PV) cells response and the solar spectrum, with the additional advantage of facilitating urban integration of photovoltaics. A new LSCs geometry based on triangular hollow‐core plastic optical fibers (POFs) filled with organic–inorganic hybrid materials doped with Rhodamine 6G, Rhodamine 800, or an Europium β‐diketonate complex is presented. Large‐area LSCs are built from POFs bundle structures, whose assembling is favored by the fiber triangular cross section that also maximizes the coverage of a PV cell surface compared with cylindrical POFs. Each bundle fiber behaves as an individual LSC absorbing UV/blue components of the solar spectrum and emitting visible/NIR radiation. The LSCs are characterized by optical conversion efficiency values up to η opt ≈5.3%, among the largest values reported for single‐layer LSCs. Moreover, the coupling between the LSCs to commercial Si PV cells yields maximum power conversion efficiency values of PCE ≈0.74%. The individual waveguiding features of each fiber in the bundle contribute to reduce the reabsorption, as lower performance values (η opt ≈1.5%; PCE ≈0.09%) are estimated for a planar LSC with analogous surface collection area and light‐harvesting absorbance.