TY - JOUR
T1 - Indoor/outdoor light-harvesting by coupling low-cost organic solar cell with a luminescent solar concentrator
AU - Mateen, Fahad
AU - Ahsan Saeed, Muhammad
AU - Won Shim, Jae
AU - Hong, Sung Kyu
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 International Solar Energy Society
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - The use of luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) is considered a promising solution for harvesting indoor and outdoor light energy. Despite a multitude of investigations of LSC based photovoltaic (PV) systems, few reports are available on LSCs for emerging PVs, such as third-generation PV technologies. To fill this gap, we develop a novel LSC based PV device by coupling an LSC with a low-cost organic solar cell. The LSC is fabricated by employing different concentrations of organic luminophores, while a polymer/fullerene-based photoactive layer is prepared for the organic PV (OPV) device. With proper spectral matching, our champion LSC-OPV device exhibits optical efficiency (ηopt) and power conversion efficiency (ηPCE) of 6.10% and 0.51% under light-emitting diode (LED) illumination, respectively. Further, performance evaluation under 1sun illumination implies the ηopt and ηPCE of 8.5% and 0.17%. We also perform the color analysis of LSC-OPV devices which shows that such devices are aesthetically feasible for use in indoor and outdoor conditions. Thus, this study highlights the substantial opportunity for the rational design of hybrid LSC-PV systems where third-generation PVs are viable prospects.
AB - The use of luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) is considered a promising solution for harvesting indoor and outdoor light energy. Despite a multitude of investigations of LSC based photovoltaic (PV) systems, few reports are available on LSCs for emerging PVs, such as third-generation PV technologies. To fill this gap, we develop a novel LSC based PV device by coupling an LSC with a low-cost organic solar cell. The LSC is fabricated by employing different concentrations of organic luminophores, while a polymer/fullerene-based photoactive layer is prepared for the organic PV (OPV) device. With proper spectral matching, our champion LSC-OPV device exhibits optical efficiency (ηopt) and power conversion efficiency (ηPCE) of 6.10% and 0.51% under light-emitting diode (LED) illumination, respectively. Further, performance evaluation under 1sun illumination implies the ηopt and ηPCE of 8.5% and 0.17%. We also perform the color analysis of LSC-OPV devices which shows that such devices are aesthetically feasible for use in indoor and outdoor conditions. Thus, this study highlights the substantial opportunity for the rational design of hybrid LSC-PV systems where third-generation PVs are viable prospects.
KW - Aesthetics
KW - Indoor and outdoor light harvesting
KW - Luminescent solar concentrator
KW - Organic photovoltaics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087684152&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.solener.2020.06.104
DO - 10.1016/j.solener.2020.06.104
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087684152
SN - 0038-092X
VL - 207
SP - 379
EP - 387
JO - Solar Energy
JF - Solar Energy
ER -