Optimizing the Power Output of Luminescent Solar Concentrators that Use White Diffusive Backgrounds
Open Access
- Author:
- Schrecengost, Jonathon Ray
- Area of Honors:
- Physics
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Bruce Paul Wittmershaus, Thesis Supervisor
Darren Williams, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Luminescent solar concentrator
air gap
white background
scatterer
LSC
diffusive
Luminescent Solar Concentrator
LSC
scatterer
white background
air gap
diffuse
Solar Energy - Abstract:
- Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) have the potential of converting solar energy into electricity less expensively than a standard photovoltaic (PV) panel. LSCs are thin plates of plastic or glass that contain fluorescent material throughout the plate or in a thin film adhered to the surface. The fluorescent material absorbs sunlight and its fluorescence is concentrated onto PV cells along the edges of an LSC using total internal reflection. Some light is able to pass through the LSC and does not reach the PV cells. A white diffusive scattering surface, or white background, is able to scatter this light back into the LSC for another chance of reaching the PV cells. The results of my experimental and theoretical research reveal that using white backgrounds larger than the area of the LSC can further increase its power output. Larger backgrounds produce more power, but with diminishing returns. An optimal air gap between the LSC and a larger white background is required to achieve maximum benefit. The size of this optimal air gap increases as the area of the white background increases. The predictions of my theoretical model agree with my experimental results for the relative performance of these larger white backgrounds with respect to their size and separation from the LSC. Experimental results show an optimal air gap of 10.7 cm separating an LSC from a white background with an area 16 times larger than the LSC. In this configuration, the LSC produced 28% more power than the maximum power output of the LSC using a white background of the same area, and 54% more power than the LSC with no white background present.