Directionally Emissive Luminescent Solar Concentrators Enabled by Electrically Aligned Quantum Rods within a Polymer...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Photovoltaics
• Optoelectronics

Background:

• Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) offer a cost-effective, transparent photovoltaic solution.
• Total internal reflection (TIR) is crucial for concentrating light in LSCs.
• Light propagation losses and emitter aggregation can limit LSC efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of directional emission on LSC efficiency.
• To enhance TIR efficiency and mitigate light propagation losses in LSCs.
• To develop a method for controlling emitter orientation in LSCs.

Main Methods:

• Utilized highly bright and polarized CdSe/CdZnS quantum rods (QRs) as emitters.
• Developed an electrically aligned photopolymerization technique to orient QRs.
• Fabricated and characterized laminated-glass LSC devices.

Main Results:

• Directional emission was shown to enhance TIR efficiency and reduce light losses.
• The electrically aligned LSC device exhibited a 1.23-fold efficiency improvement over isotropic counterparts.
• A 3.5×3.5×0.85 cm³ device achieved a power conversion efficiency of ~4.92% and light utilization efficiency of ~2.39% with >60% transmittance.

Conclusions:

• Controlling emitter orientation in LSCs is key to improving device performance.
• Directionally emitting LSCs offer a promising pathway for efficient transparent photovoltaic technologies.
• The developed LSC technology rivals state-of-the-art transparent photovoltaic devices.