Measured Efficiency of a Luminescent Solar Concentrator PV Module Called Leaf Roof

Abstract

Abstract-A functional prototype of a luminescent solar concentrator photovoltaic (LSC PV) module, called Leaf Roof, aims at demonstrating the design features of LSC PV technologies such as coloring, transparency, and flexibility in physical shape. In this paper, the prototype is presented and the first measurements of its performance are shown. The geometrical gain of this new type of PV module is 3.6. For two types of Leaf Roof modules, I-V curves have been measured resulting in efficiencies of 5.8% for a red-colored PV module, and 5.5% for a green-colored PV module under similar conditions. These results demonstrate colorful, robust solar energy collectors which can be produced in a wide variety of shapes are viable, attractive devices for use in building integrated systems. Additionally, thanks to the use of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as a cell encapsulant, the Leaf Roof modules are less susceptible to energy losses at elevated temperatures due to high irradiance and high ambient temperature conditions.

Luminescent Solar Collectors: Quo Vadis?

“…A general context marked by environmental concerns and energy savings has triggered the exploration of many niches of energy resources potentially available in urban environment. [6,7,[255][256][257][258][259][260][261][262][263] Debije and co-workers have fabricated large-scale LSCs to serve as noise barrier in urban environment and investigated the effect of light orientation and street art on the performances. [260,261] Luminescent tiles based on LSCs with bottom solar cells have been developed for roof application.…”

“…[260,261] Luminescent tiles based on LSCs with bottom solar cells have been developed for roof application. [262,263] Perhaps the most promising field of application of LSCs in urban environment lies in the considerable collecting surface for solar light offered by the windows of modern buildings. [6,7,[255][256][257][258][259] However, the use of LSCs for this application poses problems related to technical and economic aspects and social acceptability.…”

Recent Developments in Solar Energy-Harvesting Technologies for Building Integration and Distributed Energy Generation

“…The internal structure of LSC-type devices has also undergone rapid development, relying on the advances in areas, such as application-specific thin-film coatings, spectrally-selective transparent diffractive optics [20,77], embedded Mie scattering media [19,78], or other components designed to stimulate partial light trapping within waveguide-type glazing systems. More recently, conventional (non-transparent) PV elements, e.g., silicon or copper indium-gallium selenide (CIGS) cell modules started to merge into the design structure of transparent window-type solar concentrators, blocking a small transparent area fraction, but boosting the electric output through both the direct incident light capture and also collecting a part of light travelling within the device [40,55,[79][80][81]. Various performance metrics parameters have been introduced in the LSC field for characterizing the performance of concentrator-type PV devices of all configurations and types; the most important of which are the PCE, geometric gain (G)-the ratio of the total light collection aperture area to the area of edge-mounted PV cells, photon collection probability P represented by the ratio of device PCE to the nominal PCE of the solar cell modules used in the device, and the optical concentration factor C opt = G • P [82].…”

Recent Developments in Solar Energy-Harvesting Technologies for Building Integration and Distributed Energy Generation

“…More recently, conventional (non-transparent) PV elements, e.g. silicon or CIGS cell modules started to merge into the design structure of transparent window-type solar concentrators, blocking a small transparent area fraction, but boosting the electric output through both the direct incident light capture and also collecting a part of light travelling within the device [40,55,[79][80][81]. Various performance metrics parameters have been introduced in the LSC field for characterizing the performance of concentrator-type PV devices of all configurations and types; the most important of which are the PCE, geometric gain (G) -the ratio of the total light collection aperture area to the area of edge-mounted PV cells, photon collection probability P represented by the ratio of device PCE to the nominal PCE of the solar cell modules used in the device, and the optical concentration factor Copt = G • P [82].…”