SOLAR: Tandem Waveguide Solar Luminescent Concentrators

技术概述：发光太阳能聚光器收集和集中太阳光，用于太阳能发电。通过用廉价的聚合物聚光器取代大面积昂贵的光伏电池，发光太阳能聚光器提供了大幅降低太阳能电力成本的潜力。与其他聚光器技术(如基于镜面和透镜的系统)相比，发光太阳能聚光器具有更高的理论聚光系数，可以收集漫反射和镜面太阳光，而不需要跟踪太阳，并向光伏电池提供带隙匹配的光子。该项目的目标是研究高效发光太阳能聚光器的新概念，加深我们对新型材料和器件中基本光学过程的理解。该项目研究了一类基于光聚合反应介元的荧光材料，其中包括取向有序的光致发光染料和用于捕获阳光的天线波导；研究基于导波等离子激元-偏振模式的传输波导；将这两种波导结构集成到串联波导发光太阳能聚光器体系结构中；并开发数学模型来研究、了解和预测单个组件和集成串联波导发光太阳能聚光器的光捕获和传输特性。非技术概述：研究和开发高聚集、高效发光太阳能聚光器可以促进太阳能技术的进步。西华盛顿大学是一所以本科生为主的大学，非常重视研究。本科生研究人员的广泛参与是该项目不可或缺的一部分。这项研究将涉及15-20名本科生，以及3-4名硕士研究生，在一个多学科的环境中。这个项目由材料研究、化学和数学科学系共同资助。

TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Luminescent solar concentrators collect and concentrate sunlight for use in solar power generation. By replacing a large area of expensive photovoltaic cells with an inexpensive polymer concentrator, luminescent solar concentrators offer the potential for a major reduction in the cost of solar electricity. Compared to other concentrator technologies, such as mirror- and lens-based systems, luminescent solar concentrators have higher theoretical concentration factors, can collect both diffuse and specular sunlight without the need for solar tracking, and deliver bandgap-matched photons to the photovoltaic cells. The goal of this project is to study new concepts for high efficiency luminescent solar concentrators, deepening our understanding of fundamental optical processes in new classes of materials and devices. The project investigates a class of fluorescent materials based on photopolymerizable reactive mesogens incorporating orientationally ordered photoluminescent dyes and antenna waveguides for capturing sunlight; studies transport waveguide based on guided-wave plasmon-polariton modes; integrates these two waveguide structures into a tandem waveguide luminescent solar concentrator architecture; and develops mathematical models for investigating, understanding, and predicting the light trapping and transport properties of individual components and integrated tandem waveguide luminescent solar concentrators.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Research and development of highly concentrating, high efficiency luminescent solar concentrators could lead to advances in solar energy technology. West Washington University is a predominately undergraduate institution with a strong emphasis on research. Extensive participation of undergraduate researchers is an integral part of this project. The research will involve a total of 15-20 undergraduates over the project period, as well as 3-4 Masters-level graduate students, in a multidisciplinary environment.This project is co-funded by the Divisions of Materials Research, Chemistry, and Mathematical Sciences.