New developments in luminescence for solar energy utilization

As our fossil sources of energy diminish constantly search for alternative energy solutions becomes vital. The interest in exploiting solar energy for photovoltaic electricity has grown exponentially in recent decade, however, its high cost is still a limiting factor for massive uses. Static luminescent concentrator could provide a partial solution if properly designed. The paper summarizes the requirements for efficient and photostable luminescent concentrators, provides the latest results and ideas and shows how they can be materialized. It is demonstrated how the plate efficiency can be improved by applying a thin film with optical contact to transparent plate, silver plasmons that increase the transition probability of the colorants, photonic systems preventing the escape of the luminescence from the plate when traveling to the cell, creating fluorescence in the UV and visible part of the spectrum, using materials in which the absorption and emission from different electronic levels prevent self-absorption. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.