Abstract
Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) provide a simple means to concentrate sunlight without tracking the Sun. These devices absorb and then re-emit light at a lower frequency into the confined modes of a transparent slab, where it is guided towards photovoltaic cells attached to the slab edges. In the thermodynamic limit, a concentration ratio exceeding the equivalent of 100 suns is possible, but, in actual LSCs, optical propagation loss (due mostly to reabsorption) limits the concentration ratio to ∼10. Here, we introduce a general, all-optical means to overcome this problem by 'resonance-shifting', in which sharply directed emission from a bilayer cavity into the glass substrate returns to interact with the cavity off-resonance at each subsequent bounce, significantly reducing reabsorption loss en route to the edges. Using this strategy, we demonstrate near-lossless propagation for several different chromophores, which ultimately enables a more than twofold increase in concentration ratio over that of the corresponding conventional LSC.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 694-701 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Nature Photonics |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2011 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Cite this
Resonance-shifting to circumvent reabsorption loss in luminescent solar concentrators. / Giebink, Noel C.; Wiederrecht, Gary P.; Wasielewski, Michael R.
In: Nature Photonics, Vol. 5, No. 11, 11.2011, p. 694-701.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Resonance-shifting to circumvent reabsorption loss in luminescent solar concentrators
AU - Giebink, Noel C.
AU - Wiederrecht, Gary P.
AU - Wasielewski, Michael R
PY - 2011/11
Y1 - 2011/11
N2 - Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) provide a simple means to concentrate sunlight without tracking the Sun. These devices absorb and then re-emit light at a lower frequency into the confined modes of a transparent slab, where it is guided towards photovoltaic cells attached to the slab edges. In the thermodynamic limit, a concentration ratio exceeding the equivalent of 100 suns is possible, but, in actual LSCs, optical propagation loss (due mostly to reabsorption) limits the concentration ratio to ∼10. Here, we introduce a general, all-optical means to overcome this problem by 'resonance-shifting', in which sharply directed emission from a bilayer cavity into the glass substrate returns to interact with the cavity off-resonance at each subsequent bounce, significantly reducing reabsorption loss en route to the edges. Using this strategy, we demonstrate near-lossless propagation for several different chromophores, which ultimately enables a more than twofold increase in concentration ratio over that of the corresponding conventional LSC.
AB - Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) provide a simple means to concentrate sunlight without tracking the Sun. These devices absorb and then re-emit light at a lower frequency into the confined modes of a transparent slab, where it is guided towards photovoltaic cells attached to the slab edges. In the thermodynamic limit, a concentration ratio exceeding the equivalent of 100 suns is possible, but, in actual LSCs, optical propagation loss (due mostly to reabsorption) limits the concentration ratio to ∼10. Here, we introduce a general, all-optical means to overcome this problem by 'resonance-shifting', in which sharply directed emission from a bilayer cavity into the glass substrate returns to interact with the cavity off-resonance at each subsequent bounce, significantly reducing reabsorption loss en route to the edges. Using this strategy, we demonstrate near-lossless propagation for several different chromophores, which ultimately enables a more than twofold increase in concentration ratio over that of the corresponding conventional LSC.
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U2 - 10.1038/nphoton.2011.236
DO - 10.1038/nphoton.2011.236
M3 - Article
VL - 5
SP - 694
EP - 701
JO - Nature Photonics
JF - Nature Photonics
SN - 1749-4885
IS - 11
ER -