Emissive Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) are a class of ultralight solar technology, comprising a waveguide embedded with quantum dots (QDs), that absorb and downshift incident spectra, that is then guided towards a band-gap matched solar cell, via total internal reflection (TIR). However, TIR accounts for >25% of losses. To mitigate these losses, an Emissive LSC (eLSC) model is proposed, that modifies the waveguide to support only the two fundamental modes, with a guided mode resonance (GMR) structure, such that the photoluminescence (PL) from the embedded QDs is instantly redirected towards an external PV cell through diffractive outcoupling of the GMR. This combined nanophotonic-PV device presents a novel method to improve LSC efficiency, while maintaining low mass and cost characteristics necessary for large scale production.