Following this reasoning an lsc with fiber geometry should have a. Luminescent solar concentrators lscs harvest sunlight over large areas and concentrate this energy onto photovoltaics or for other uses by transporting photons through macroscopic waveguides. A luminescent solar concentrator lsc is a device for concentrating radiation, solar radiation in particular, to produce electricity. A luminescent solar concentrator lsc is a transparent piece of plastic or glass that has a fluorescent dye or quantum dots embedded or painted on it. For spacebased pv systems, the nal destination has three possible locations. Broadband enhancement of light harvesting in luminescent. Renewable energy resources, solar energy, solar concentrator. Optical design and characterization of solar concentrators for photovoltaics 4 ruption of the translational symmetry when the microstructured reflectors were introduced. Solar concentrators rensselaer polytechnic institute. Power generation study of luminescent solar concentrator. 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.
While the light energy bounces around in the plastic, it sometimes gets reabsorbed into the dye molecules and ends up emitted as heat. For practical fibres concentration is predicted to be linear with fibre length. When must run a concentrator around the clock or charge up batteries to run that concentrator, there is no such thing as waiting for the sun to come back out or for a wind to kick up. Sunlight strikes this surface, and the dye, which can be tuned or colored to trap specific wavelengths of light, emits light back to solar cells along the edge of the plate. Luminescent solar concentrators lscs have the potential to significantly contribute to solar energy harvesting strategies in the built environment. The lightharvesting area of the pv system is much smaller than that of the lsc system, potentially improving the efficiency and reducing the cost of solar cells. Development of a compound parabolic solar concentrator to increase solar 167 12. Design and performance of nanostructurebased luminescent. Concentrators work best when there is a single source of light and the concentrator can be pointed right at it.
A solar concentrator doesnt require a cooling system, and there are no moving parts, making it less expensive than a solar tracker. A luminescent solar concentrator lsc is an optical waveguide of transparent host material doped with luminophores. It was concluded that structured reflectors are used at their largest benefit if they. Download limit exceeded you have exceeded your daily download allowance. It was concluded that structured reflectors are used at their largest benefit if they are applied in new concentrators designed for structures. A solar concentrator does exactly what its name implies. Mar 19, 20 watch in 360 the inside of a nuclear reactor from the size of an atom with virtual reality duration. The luminescent solar concentrator lsc allows sunlight to be concentrated through the use of light pipe trapping of luminescence. Large area quantum dot luminescent solar concentrators for. Merced, ca 95343, usa bschool of engineering, university of california, merced, 5200 north lake rd.
This is ideal in space, where the sun is a single light source. The lsc device can function in diffused light as well as direct light, and may come in a variety of colors, shapes and transparencies. Luminescent solar concentrator clean energy institute. The ensuing lumi nescence can either escape back out of the face a or be trapped by. Challenges for lanthanidebased organicinorganic hybrid materials article pdf available march 2014 with 926 reads. May 19, 2009 his solar concentrator utilizes inexpensive material like glass or plastic onto which a thin film of dye has been painted. Polarizationindependent filters for luminescent solar concentrators dick k. Solar energy conversion and photoenergy systems vol. The characteristic of a cylinder is that the longer and thinner it is, the larger the arearatio between the illuminated surface and the edges. Ghosh a aschool of natural sciences, university of california, merced, 5200 north lake rd.
Theres a drawback to the traditional design, though. Consider the challenges brought up in the abstract. Thermodynamic limits of light concentrators 101 fl 2 fig. Download fulltext pdf luminescent solar concentrators.
A conceptual representation of a solar concentrator used in harnessing the power from the sun to generate electricity is shown in figure 1. Could luminescent solar concentrators make solar power. Archived from the original pdf on 15 september 2014. The solar concentrators used in csp systems can often also be used to provide. An overview of various configurations of luminescent solar. Luminescent solar concentrators explained mit energy. Luminescent solar concentrators lscs offer an encouraging means to include solar energy to the built environment. The proposed te solar concentrator was composed of a parabolic dish collector with an aperture of 1. The coolest part of the system is that it doesnt just concentrate the sunlight.
In the rst two cases, the incident solar radiation is at or better than 1. Msu doctoral student yimu zhao holds up a transparent luminescent solar concentrator module. Three parabolic trough solar concentrators ptscs of dimensions. The increased awareness of greenhouse gas emissions on longterm climate trends has put the spotlight back on the development of renewable energy technologies to mitigate these processes. Development of a compound parabolic solar concentrator to. Nanocrystals for luminescent solar concentrators liam r. Flat facet parabolic solar concentrator with support cell for. The potential of a fibre luminescent solar concentrator has been explored by means of both analytical and raytracing techniques. Incident sunlight is absorbed by the luminescent species and emitted with high quantum efficiency, such that emitted light is trapped in the sheet and travels to the edges where it can be collected by solar cells.
Background on our return to india from germany, we have worked on the development of solar concentrators with input and collaboration of german and austrian inventors. Sep 29, 2014 greg schmidt, research engineer at the institute of optics, explains how light guide solar concentrators are designed to direct and concentrate sunlight in o. The company says that their solar concentrator could produce up to kw of heat per hour, far exceeding the needs of a normal home. I high temperature solar concentrators robert pitzpaal encyclopedia of life support systems eolss 2. Gamelin, department of chemistry, university of washington, seattle, washington 981951700, united states mathematics department, western washington university, 516 high street, bellingham, washington 98225, united states. 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. Electrical power consumption in buildings may be reduced considerably by more efficient use of sunlight for indoor lighting. A new concept in solar energy concentration technology has been evolving over the past several years, which has given rise to a device called a luminescent solar concentrator, or lsc see appendix a for an historical account. Pdf nanoparticles for luminescent solar concentrators. Concentrated solar power, simultaneous multiple surface method. Aug 19, 2014 new type of solar concentrator doesnt block the view by michigan state university solar power with a view.
Well, solar beam, a canadian company now produces solar concentrators, based on the same principle eric used, but aimed at heating your home and providing hot water for free. A luminescent solar concentrator lsc is a device that has luminescent molecules embedded in a polymeric or glass waveguide to generate electricity from sunlight via a photovoltaic cell attachment. Optical design and characterization of solar concentrators for. A supertwist liquid crystalline luminescent solar concentrator lsc smart window is fabricated which can be switched electrically between three states. Concentrated solar power csp, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a receiver. New type of solar concentrator doesnt block the view. Electricity generation from a solar parabolic concentrator.
A solar startup looks to break with tradition with the concept of photovoltaic material that can move to meet the light. What you need is a reliable system of renewable energy that will never run out, and will. For the practical realisation of lsc technology, the ability to create large area devices, which contain considerable volumes of high quality luminescent speci celebrating excellence in research. Coated fibres have been found to be more efficient than homogeneously doped fibres, at low absorption. Unesco eolss sample chapters solar energy conversion and photoenergy systems vol. With this demonstration, we develop kits for educating students about renewable and solar energy while promoting a sense of creativity often lacking in stem demonstrations. Luminescent solar concentrators lscs generally consist of transparent polymer sheets doped with luminescent species. However, several challenges still existed, such as quantum yields qys at highloading contents, scatteringreabsorption losses, and stability. Thermal analysis of the performance of linear fresnel. Luminescent solar concentrators lscs offer a novel approach for the utilization of solar irradiation in the form of transparent glazing systems that have the.
A wide variety of solar concentrator options are available to you, such as pressurized, vacuum solar collector, and flat panel. A wide variety of solar concentrator options are available to you. Experimental study of a parabolic solar concentrator cder. This is a less expensive method, and its the one massachusetts institute of technology researchers recently improved upon in a way that could revolutionize solar power technology. Due to a corporate reorganization at owensillinois in early 1984, the lsc group was disbanded, thereby making completion of this report a much more difficult task. Concentrator photovoltaics antonio luque lopez springer. The solarbeamtm concentrator is the most efficient. Could luminescent solar concentrators make solar power more. For example, it is wasteful to employ large areas of crystalline silicon merely to absorb light. New type of solar concentrator doesnt block the view by michigan state university solar power with a view. In our earlier paper we referred to the generic device as a planar solar concentrator, or psc. Visibletransparent luminescent solar concentrators based.
The alignmentfree tir collectors are assembled on the waveguide without requiring alignment. Luminescent solar concentrator lsc can absorb largearea incident sunlight, then emit luminescence with high quantum efficiency, which finally be collected by a small photovoltaic pv system. The ring at the end of the string is free to move along the rod from. Design and analysis of a highefficiency, costeffective.
Each triangular mirror is cut from a commercial flat glass mirror with a reflection factor of 0. Such concentrators do not require tracking, and they can reduce the cost of solar energy conversion by reducing the required area of photovoltaic cells. Polarizationindependent filters for luminescent solar. Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is converted to heat solar thermal energy, which drives a heat engine usually a steam turbine connected to an electrical power. Losses in luminescent solar concentrators unveiled.
Solar concentrator is a device that allows the collection of sunlight from a large area and focusing it on a smaller receiver or exit. A free download of soltrace is available at the following website. Parabolic solar concentrators for cooking, food processing and other applications abstract on our return to india from germany, we have worked. Luminescent solar concentrators for buildingintegrated. The design is lossfree when the bundle of collected rays mc coincides with mi. Luminescent solar concentrators with flat plate and cylindrical geometries. Luminescent solar concentrator lsc development program at owensillinois under the sponsorship of the united states department of energy. Large stokes shift and high efficiency luminescent solar. However, the luminescent solar concentrator exhibits several potential light loss mechanisms that limit its e ciency and practicality for many potential applications. Osa luminescent solar concentrators with fiber geometry. Design and performance of nanostructurebased luminescent solar concentrators g. In this work, the potential for a solarthermal concentrator to produce steam has been studied. This makes much more focused light come to each solar cell, making the cells vastly more efficient. Planar waveguide concentrator used with a seasonal tracker.
New solar concentrators advance solar power possibilities. Solar concentrators put one of these lenses on top of every solar cell. Planar solar concentrator featuring alignmentfree total. Visibletransparent luminescent solar concentrators vtlscs can be integrated with solar cells for designing solar glasses. Swanson sunpower corporation, 435 indio way, sunnyvale, ca 94086, usa this paper addresses the issue of why concentrator systems have not gained a signi. Luminescent solar concentrators lsc are being investigated as a lowcost route to expand solar energy harvesting into new spaces. Solar energy group, argonne national laboratory, argonne, il 60439, u.
Solar thermal power plants with concentration technologies are. Will only power up phones, lap tops, 100 watt fridge and lamp of 100 watts. For the very first time the main loss channels can be distinguished. Flat facet parabolic solar concentrator with support cell.
Light management in luminescent solar concentrators. Highly efficient largearea colourless luminescent solar concentrators using heavy metal free colloidal quantum dots. Although attractive for lowering solar energy costs, lscs remain severely limited by luminophore reabsorption losses. Spain is the leader in concentrated solar power technology, with more than 50 governmentapproved projects in the works. Luminescent solar concentrators lscs offer a unique opportunity to invisibly integrate semitransparent photovoltaic architectural elements, such as electrodeless glazing units, into the. Solar based electricity generation has gained widespread recognition as a viable source of renewable energy but has been slowed by a number of factors including cost and available application areas. Another solution to the efficiency problem in solar panels is the solar concentrator. Lsc technology works by trapping incident solar radiation, converting the spectrum to the wavelengthband of interest and concentrating the light by total internal reflection tir to the edge of the lsc where photovoltaic pv solar cell is attached. Typical arrangement for a geometrical or passive concentrator. Highly efficient largearea colourless luminescent solar concentrators using heavy metal free colloidal quantum dots francesco meinardi, hunter mc daniel, francesco carulli, annalisa colombo, kirill a. A linear fresnel solar concentrator may have a lower efficiency than the other concentrating geometries, but the likely reduced cost may well compensate that, providing a solution for costeffective solar energy collection on a large scale 1. Purchased a solar generator from a company only to find out it would not power my oxygen concentrator or the sump pumps. High performance fresnelbased photovoltaic concentrator light.
Luminescent solar concentrators with fiber geometry. Wikipedia free encyclopedia 2010, solar thermal energy processes. A solar concentrator, which collects light for a small solar cell, promises to be cheaper and more efficient. The increase in investment would be from 2 billion worldwide to 92.
Watch in 360 the inside of a nuclear reactor from the size of an atom with virtual reality duration. In atable membrane solar concentration systems for space. A novel method to characterize luminescent solar concentrators is proposed. A stack of luminescent solar concentrator sheets has been developed, which utilises three different coloured fluorescent dyes to produce a concentrated nearwhite light source to be coupled into flexible polymer sheets and transported up to 10 m. Luminescent solar concentrators explained mit energy initiative. It will also analyse on some of the existing solar concentrators used in the solar technology for the past four decades. Solar concentrators, parabolic reflectors, photovoltaic cells, photovoltaicthermal. Greg schmidt, research engineer at the institute of optics, explains how light guide solar concentrators are designed to direct and concentrate sunlight in o. Highly efficient largearea colourless luminescent solar. Luminescent solar concentrator lsc incorporated with quantum dots qds have been widely regarded as one of the most important development trends of costeffective solar energy. Highly efficient largearea colourless luminescent solar concentrators using heavymetal free.
A 1 m long, radius 1 mm, fibre lsc doped with lumogen red 305 is predicted to. Recently, rareearth complexes, semiconductor nanocrystals, and carbon nanodots cnds have been applied in developing vtlscs. The study found that concentrated solar power could account for up to 25% of the worlds energy needs by 2050. A luminescent solar concentrator lsc greenhouse and an identical control greenhouse were constructed with photovoltaic pv cells attached to the roof panels of both structures. A solar plant takes solar energy and converts it to usable energy. Solar high temperature designs require concentration systems, such as parabolic reflectors. The results are independent of excitation wavelength which simplifies measurements.
Incident solar radiation for earth, mars, jupiter, etc. Optical design and characterization of solar concentrators. The experimental setup required is the same as used for quantum yield measurements. Software and codes for analysis of concentrating solar power. Luminescent solar concentrator lsc incorporated with quantum dots qds have been widely regarded as one of the most important development trends of.
A solar energy plant takes solar energy and converts it to useful energy andor products. It takes the sunlight that strikes a wide area and bunches it together. His solar concentrator utilizes inexpensive material like glass or plastic onto which a thin film of dye has been painted. We have conducted the following experimental and theoretical investigations in order to optimize the lscs.