Monte Carlo study of PbSe quantum dots as the fluorescent material in luminescent solar concentrators

Modelling of polymer optical fiber-based solar concentrators

A comprehensive model for the theoretical simulation of luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) has been developed and examined. It can simulate the interdependent effects of multiple dopants having two main electronic energy states, which are incorporated simultaneously into the fiber core, as well as the effect of the cladding. The available experimental results appear to confirm the accuracy of the model, which is a valuable tool for gaining insight into the behavior of LSC prototypes, since it may guide the designers at the early stages of optimization processes.

Ultra-wideband and flat-gain optical properties of the PbS quantum dots-doped silica fiber

We investigate the microstructural characteristics and optical properties of PbS quantum dots-doped silica fiber (PQDF), prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) doping technique. The fiber exhibits ultra-wideband luminescence and flat-gain with 3 dB bandwidth of 300 nm. The on-off gain and net gain can reach to 7.1-15.0 dB and 6.0-9.2 dB at 1050-1350 nm, respectively. The results of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) further reveal the effects of PbS QDs doping in PQDF. The broadband luminescence spectrum originating from three active centers (1086, 1179, and 1304 nm), can be attributed to the dimension effect of PbS QDs (3.7, 4.0, and 4.3 nm, respectively). Moreover, the calculation results indicate that the multi-sized PbS QDs concentrated at 3.65-4.45 nm make the 3 dB gain bandwidth increase, which is six times wider than that of traditional erbium-doped fiber (EDF). Therefore, this type of PQDF is a promising gain medium for optical amplifiers and broadband light sources.

Rapid optimization of large-scale luminescent solar concentrators: evaluation for adoption in the built environment

The phenomenon of self-absorption is by far the largest influential factor in the efficiency of luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs), but also the most challenging one to capture computationally. In this work we present a model using a multiple-generation light transport (MGLT) approach to quantify light transport through single-layer luminescent solar concentrators of arbitrary shape and size. We demonstrate that MGLT offers a significant speed increase over Monte Carlo (raytracing) when optimizing the luminophore concentration in large LSCs and more insight into light transport processes. Our results show that optimizing luminophore concentration in a lab-scale device does not yield an optimal optical efficiency after scaling up to realistically sized windows. Each differently sized LSC therefore has to be optimized individually to obtain maximal efficiency. We show that, for strongly self-absorbing LSCs with a high quantum yield, parasitic self-absorption can turn into a positive effect at very high absorption coefficients. This is due to a combination of increased light trapping and stronger absorption of the incoming sunlight. We conclude that, except for scattering losses, MGLT can compute all aspects in light transport through an LSC accurately and can be used as a design tool for building-integrated photovoltaic elements. This design tool is therefore used to calculate many building-integrated LSC power conversion efficiencies.

High-Performance Near-Infrared Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) appear as candidates to enhance the performance of photovoltaic (PV) cells and contribute to reduce the size of PV systems, decreasing, therefore, the amount of material needed and thus the cost associated with energy conversion. One way to maximize the device performance is to explore near-infrared (NIR)-emitting centers, resonant with the maximum optical response of the most common Si-based PV cells. Nevertheless, very few examples in the literature demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating LSCs emitting in the NIR region. In this work, NIR-emitting LSCs are reported using silicon 2,3-naphthalocyanine bis(trihexylsilyloxide) (SiNc or NIR775) immobilized in an organic-inorganic tri-ureasil matrix (t-U(5000)). The photophysical properties of the SiNc dye incorporated into the tri-ureasil host closely resembled those of SiNc in tetrahydrofuran solution (an absolute emission quantum yield of ∼0.17 and a fluorescence lifetime of ∼3.6 ns). The LSC coupled to a Si-based PV device revealed an optical conversion efficiency of ∼1.5%, which is among the largest values known in the literature for NIR-emitting LSCs. The LSCs were posteriorly coupled to a Si-based commercial PV cell, and the synergy between the t-U(5000) and SiNc molecules enabled an effective increase in the external quantum efficiency of PV cells, exceeding 20% in the SiNc absorption region.

PbSe quantum dot based luminescent solar concentrators

The results are presented for luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) fabricated with poly(lauryl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) (P(LMA-co-EGDMA)) and Angstrom Bond, Inc. AB9093 acrylic epoxy matrix, high quantum yield (> 70%) PbSe quantum dots (QDs) and silicon photovoltaic (Si PV) cells. LSCs were tested under a lamp with broadband illumination, photon flux-matched to a standard solar spectrum and verified under a calibrated solar lamp source. The P(LMA-co-EGDMA) sample demonstrated the highest power conversion efficiency of any known LSC fabricated with either QDs or Si PV cells, 4.74%. Additionally, increased temperature was shown to reduce efficiency.

Large Stokes Shift and High Efficiency Luminescent Solar Concentrator Incorporated with CuInS2/ZnS Quantum Dots

Luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) incorporated with quantum dots (QDs) have been widely regarded as one of the most important development trends of cost-effective solar energy. In this study, for the first time we report a new QDs-LSC integrated with heavy metal free CuInS₂/ZnS core/shell QDs with large Stokes shift and high optical efficiency. The as-prepared CuInS₂/ZnS QDs possess advantages of high photoluminescence quantum yield of 81% and large Stocks shift more than 150 nm. The optical efficiency of CuInS₂/ZnS QDs-LSC reaches as high as 26.5%. Moreover, the power conversion efficiency of the QDs-LSC-PV device reaches more than 3 folds to that of pure PMMA-PV device. Furthermore, the PV device is able to harvest 4.91 folds solar energy with the assistance of this new CuInS₂/ZnS QDs-LSC for the same size c-Si PV cell. The results demonstrate that this new CuInS₂/ZnS QDs-LSC provides a promising way for the high efficiency, nonhazardous and low cost solar energy.