Revealing the potential of luminescent solar concentrators in real-world environments

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) are devices that concentrate light using a transparent matrix doped with chromophores. LSCs have the potential to outperform other concentration technologies due to their ability to concentrate diffuse light and reshape the solar spectrum to match the optimum spectral characteristics for photovoltaics. This study compares different LSC technologies, including solar windows, within a simulated real-world environment and outlines the impact of upcoming technologies to determine their commercialization potential. We utilized a year of real-world solar spectrum data from Boulder and Amsterdam and define the power efficiencies from different LSC configurations. We find that silicon PV generally outperforms even the best LSC over a calendar year. We outline the potential opportunities in the application of LSC systems relative to traditional photovoltaics.