Outdoor evaluation of solar concentrators based on fluorescent fibers with different dye distributions

• Outdoor measuring for solar concentrators based on POFs manufactured by authors. • Comparison of fibers with two different dye distributions: uniform and peripheral. • Experimental results theoretically corroborated by Monte-Carlo ray-tracing. • Theoretical results indicate that peripherally-doped samples can be advantageous. Outdoor measurements of luminescent solar concentrators based on polymer optical fibers that are doped with two organic dyes distributed either uniformly or peripherally in the cross section are reported. The output spectra from both types of doped fibers are compared experimentally and theoretically using a Monte-Carlo computational model. The analysis of parameters of luminescent solar concentrators, such as the external photon efficiency and the concentration factor, serves to test our fiber manufacturing procedure and to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of uniform and peripheral dye distributions. Complementary analyses for peripherally doped fibers with optimized characteristics are also included.