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

Abstract

A study of photovoltaic solar window technologies is reported and it focuses on their structural features, functional materials, system development, and suitability for use in practical field applications including public infrastructures and agricultural installations. Energy generation performance characteristics are summarized and compared to theory-limit predictions. Working examples of pilot-trial solar window-based installations are described. We also report on achieving electric power outputs of about 25 W p /m 2 from clear and transparent large-area glass-based solar windows.

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

“…All PV modules were connected in parallel electrically, with each being series-connected to a Schottky blocking diode. The technical reasons for selecting CuInSe 2 over other PV module types (eg Si) for use in this application area have been discussed in some detail in [17].…”

“…The luminescent material combinations and luminophore particle concentrations distributed inside either the epoxy-or the PVB-based lamination interlayers were identical. Inorganic luminescent materials used to down-convert the UV-blue and also some of the near-infrared light into near-IR emissions whilst partially diffusing the incident flux inside the glazing systems have been described in detail in [10,17,28]. The infrared-reflecting high-transparency low-emissivity coatings were also placed into principally-equivalent locations within all panel structures, at the internal (interlayer-facing) surfaces of the last glass-plate element used within each panel, in order to protect the coatings.…”

“…Of notable importance is the recent development of a new float glass type possessing significantly reduced optical absorption in the near-infrared wavelength range (TIREX by AGC Europe, [15]). We tested experimentally several concentrator devices built using this glass type and characterised the energy harvesting performance improvements in terms of standard metrics parameters applicable to LSC-type devices.At present, transparent solar windows and multiple other types of semi-transparent building-integrated PV (BIPV), or building-applied PV (BAPV) energy-generating modules based on different technologies are starting to be mass-produced and deployed commercially worldwide [16][17][18][19]. The growing industry of net-zero energy buildings (NZEB,(19)(20)(21)) construction benefits from the synergy of the on-site distributed energy generation provided by BIPV (or solar window) products, and the energy-saving functionality provided by the structure of advanced glazings containing transparent heat-regulating (low-emissivity) coatings [22][23][24].…”

“…The development of energy-generating window products occurs in synergy with another area of active research dedicated to optimizing the ways in which the electric output can be extracted, stored, and utilized in distributed low-and medium-power installations [25][26][27]. Often, advanced solar window designs themselves combine the energy generation capabilities with significant potential for reducing the lighting, heating, and cooling expenditures in buildings [17,28]. Excellent recent reviews and other articles (including [4,7,8,12-14]) dedicated to the current state of the field in semi-transparent luminescent concentrators of all types and solar window development present multiple datasets related to the system performance characteristics demonstrated to date.Embedding large-area finely-structured elements (such as diffractive optical elements [28][29][30], or light diffuser films [31]) into the glazing system of solar PV windows is a proven and fruitful approach to maximizing their energy harvesting performance.…”

Increasing the Energy Savings and Yield of <em>Lactuca sativa</em>, L. in Glass Greenhouses through Illumination Spectral Filtering

“…The results of customized thin-film filter development can then be used to also filter the light spectra of any conventional broad-spectrum sources. Alternatively, these filters on glass substrates can be used as components of the Electron Science Research Institute's (ESRI) recently developed transparent solar energy harvesting windows [16,17].…”