Rapid optimization of large-scale luminescent solar concentrators: evaluation for adoption in the built environment

Spectrally-Selective Energy-Harvesting Solar Windows for Public Infrastructure Applications

“…In particular, in concentrators relying on the LSC principle, the selection of luminophore materials is usually based on the requirement to harvest the energy within both the UV and also the near-IR spectral regions. Luminescent materials with large Stokes shift values are required to avoid excessive loss of light due to self-absorption [1][2][3][4]7,20,21].…”

“…In recent years, there has been a significant and growing research interest dedicated to the engineering and characterization of unconventional photovoltaic (PV) devices and systems. In particular, large-area transparent luminescent solar concentrators (LSC) [1][2][3][4] and solar windows [5][6][7][8] are currently receiving more attention. Of special importance is the emergence of newly-commercialized, semi-transparent photovoltaic technologies and building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems, which have been demonstrated in practical architectural deployment applications [9][10][11][12].…”

Physical Vapor Deposited Silver (AG) Based Metal-Dielectric Nanocomposites for Advanced Thin-Film and Coating Applications

“…Solar windows, in particular, large-area transparent luminescent solar concentrators (LSC) are recently receiving increasing attention in the field of photovoltaics (PV) devices and systems. Most commercial energy-generating solar glass or window technologies suited for building-integrated PV (BIPV) applications currently have a semi-transparent look (up to around 40% spectrallyaveraged visible-range transmission) and lack color-neutral characteristics [7][8][9][10][11]. Also, regardless of the materials or technologies employed, the electric outputs of solar window-type systems drop as visible-range transparency increases.…”

Semi-Transparent Energy-Harvesting Solar Concentrator Windows Employing Infrared Transmission-Enhanced Glass and Large-Area Microstructured Diffractive Elements

“…A large number of works have since been dedicated to achieving continued progress in enabling solar energy collection in planar window-type concentrators employing various luminescent materials, solar cell types, and device structures [3,4]. More recently, multiple research groups worldwide have concentrated their efforts towards demonstrating large-area luminescent concentrators and the development of advanced luminescent materials for use in window-type concentrators suitable for deployment in built environments [5][6][7][8][9]. A notable trend in the recently-reported works is the growing shift away from using organic photoluminescent dyes (which have been used traditionally in LSC devices for several decades) towards the more chemicallyand photo-stable inorganic phosphors and quantum dots [6][7][8][10][11][12], which can significantly reduce re-absorption losses within luminescent media.…”