Abstract
Luminescent solar concentrators enhance the power output of solar cells through wave-guided luminescent emission and have great potential as building-integrated photovoltaics. Luminescent solar concentrators with a variety of geometries and absorbing–emitting materials have been reported in the literature. As the breadth of available experimental configurations continues to grow, there is an increasing need for versatile Monte Carlo ray-tracing simulation tools to analyze the performance of these devices for specific applications. This paper presents the framework for a Monte Carlo ray-tracing simulation tool that can be used to analyze a host of three-dimensional geometries. It incorporates custom radiative transport models to consider the effects of scattering from luminescent media, while simultaneously modeling absorption and luminescent emission. The model is validated using experimental results for three-dimensional planar and wedge-shaped luminescent solar concentrators employing scattering phosphor films. Performance was studied as a function of length, wavelength, and the angle of incidence of incoming light. The data for the validation studies and the code (written using the Python programming language) associated with the described model are publically available.
Highlights
In an attempt to generalize, this paper provides the framework for a versatile Monte Carlo (MC) ray-tracing simulation tool that can be used to analyze a host of three-dimensional (3D) luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) geometries
A PV boundary allows for the use of both an internal quantum number of collected charge carriers by the cell divided by the total number of incident efficiency, IQE(λ), and external quantum efficiency, EQE(λ), if known
This section focused on the individual classes of objects used within the code of the MC model to represent the components of an LSC
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Forecasts that almost half of all electricity generation will be renewable by the year 2050, with nearly 20% of all electricity powered by solar energy [2] Amidst this immense growth, building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) have remained a relatively niche market [3], even though buildings contribute 40% of greenhouse gas emissions [4]. Deploying BIPV can involve compromises in energy efficiency as aesthetic changes to a solar panel often mean a decline in performance [10]. The same fundamental trade-offs in flexibility and efficiency discussed in [11] for thin-film and crystalline solar panels exist when comparing LSCs of differing configurations and luminescent species.
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