Luminescent Solar Panel

A luminescent solar concentrator lsc is made from plastic or glass with fluorescent materials or quantum dots in or on it.

Luminescent solar panel.

The luminescent ingredients can be dialed in to absorb and re emit at selected wavelengths. Retrofitted onto current solar panel systems luminescent solar concentrators could increase efficiency by 50 percent source. Luminescent solar concentrators lsc are a very simple concept. With increased efficiency it ll also be able to generate more electricity per dollar than the solar panels you see on people s roofs now.

A luminescent solar concentrator lsc is a device for concentrating radiation solar radiation in particular to produce electricity. The hope for the lsc is that cheap dyes or phosphors can make the system inexpensive as well as tolerant of defects or angle. This is a promising technology because it allows a large collecting area of virtually transparent glass with a comparatively small area of expensive solar cells. Solar cells mounted on the larger edge of the lsc convert energy captured from the sun into electric power.

By making windows out of these lscs the glass that lets sunlight into our homes and offices could also generate the power we need. The dye absorbs light and then fluoresces creating a glow that propagates by total internal reflection to the edge of the sheet where the light is absorbed by a narrow solar cell. This technology allows the seamless integration of photovoltaics and plastics. Luminescent solar concentrators operate on the principle of collecting radiation over a large area converting it by luminescence specifically by fluorescence and directing the generated radiation into a relatively small output target.

The lscs considered in this study are made of transparent plastic with a film of photoluminescent particles on the back similar to those used in leds. By far the most amazing aspect of the product though comes from the use of glass.