Outdoor characterisation of High Efficiency Luminescent Solar Concentrators
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Outdoor Characterization of High Efficiency Luminescent Solar Concentrators for Smart Windows Mauro Pravettoni1,2, Alessandro Virtuani1, Robert P. Kenny1, Daniel J. Farrell2, Amanda J. Chatten2 and Keith W. J. Barnham2 1 European Commission, DG JRC, IE, Renewable Energy Unit, Ispra (VA), I-21027, Italy 2 Imperial College London, Blackett Laboratory, London, SW7 2BW, U.K. ABSTRACT This work presents recent results on outdoor characterisation of high efficiency luminescent solar concentrators. Outdoor measurements at 25°C and corrected to 1000 W/m2 have been compared with indoor characterization according to the international standards for conventional photovoltaic devices. Dependence of electrical parameters with temperature is also shown, together with results of various 1-day monitoring campaigns of luminescent concentrators performance under varying irradiance conditions. Results highlight the importance of those devices as potentially cheap, residential concentrating systems. INTRODUCTION Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) have been studied since the 1970s [1-2] and typically consist of glass or transparent polymer slabs, doped with organic dyes that act as luminescent centres (which could be either organic dyes or inorganic species such as quantum dots or quantum rods [3-4]). Incident light is partially absorbed, re-radiated by the luminescent species and then partially total-internal-reflected towards the edges of the slab, where photovoltaic cells are attached for conversion into electricity. LSCs convert both direct and diffuse radiation to electrical power: no tracking system is necessary and therefore they may represent a cheap solution, complementary to conventional concentrating systems, particularly well-fitted to building integration, for example in smart windows. Interest in LSCs has recently grown thanks to recent reports of high efficiency devices [5-6]. Our groups have contributed to the development and to the characterization of a LSC with the highest efficiency value of 7.1% [7]. Other activities have also recently been performed at ESTI on modelling and indoor-outdoor characterization of LSCs [8-9]. In this work we present recent results in outdoor current/voltage (IV) characterization of high efficiency LSCs, with highlight of the performance in various configurations and irradiance conditions and the dependence of electrical parameters on temperature. Outdoor measurements are compared with those performed indoor at standard conditions (STC): global irradiance at 1000 W/m2, spectral irradiance AM1.5G and device temperature of 25°C. Corrections from actual experimental conditions to STC are routinely performed at ESTI, by means of scaling electrical parameters to standard irradiance, spectral mismatch and temperature coefficients measurements respectively. ESTI is an international centre of reference for standard measurements: since no standard procedures have yet been developed for LSCs, international standards in use for conventional non-concentrating modules have been used in
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