Theory for optimal design of waveguiding light concentrators in photovoltaic microcell arrays

Semichaevsky, Andrey V.; Johnson, Harley T.; Yoon, Jongseung; Nuzzo, Ralph G.; Li, Lanfang; Rogers, John

doi:10.1364/ao.50.002799

Theory for optimal design of waveguiding light concentrators in photovoltaic microcell arrays

Journal Article · Thu Jun 09 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Applied Optics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1364/ao.50.002799· OSTI ID:1876437

Semichaevsky, Andrey V. ^[1]; Johnson, Harley T. ^[2]; Yoon, Jongseung ^[3]; Nuzzo, Ralph G. ^[2]; Li, Lanfang ^[2]; Rogers, John ^[2]

Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); University of Illinois
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

Efficiency of ultrathin flexible solar photovoltaic silicon microcell arrays can be significantly improved using nonimaging solar concentrators. A fluorophore is introduced to match the solar spectrum and the low-reflectivity wavelength range of Si, reduce the escape losses, and allow the nontracking operation. In this paper we optimize our solar concentrators using a luminescent/nonluminescent photon transport model. Key modeling results are compared quantitatively to experiments and are in good agreement with the latter. Here, our solar concentrator performance is not limited by the dye self-absorption. Bending deformations of the flexible solar collectors do not result in their indirect gain degradation compared to flat solar concentrators with the same projected area.

Research Organization:: Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division

DOE Contract Number:: FG02-07ER46471

OSTI ID:: 1876437

Journal Information:: Applied Optics, Journal Name: Applied Optics Journal Issue: 17 Vol. 50; ISSN 0003-6935

Publisher:: Optical Society of America (OSA)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited By (1)

Quantum dots for Luminescent Solar Concentrators Purcell-Milton, Finn; Gun'ko, Yurii K. Journal of Materials Chemistry, Vol. 22, Issue 33 https://doi.org/10.1039/c2jm32366d	journal	January 2012

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