Tandem luminescent solar concentrators based on rare earth doped SiAlON and quantum dot thin films

商业建筑占总能源消耗的40%，因此开发替代能源以减少其能源影响至关重要。建筑集成光伏(BIPV)已被确定为将可再生能源整合到城市中的一条很有前途的途径。太阳能发电窗代表着BIPV中的“圣杯”，因为窗户在我们的城市中无处不在，因此提供的表面积比屋顶或土地大得多。发光太阳能集中器(LSC)是基于有机、CIGS或Si薄膜的复杂、多层、半透明太阳能电池的低成本替代品。然而，LSC面临着两大挑战。它们的透明度低，这降低了它们在大规模应用中的社会接受度，而且它们有限的光谱吸收范围和高自吸收损耗导致LSC的功率效率很低(&lt；2-3%)，特别是对于大面积(&gt；1 m2)LSC。在这个项目中，我们的目标是开发基于多层串联架构的可扩展、高性能的LSC。在玻璃上沉积的稀土掺杂SiAlON薄膜将被用作叠层LSC的外层。内层将由与SiAlON互补吸收的量子点薄膜组成。该装置将吸收整个可见光太阳光谱，并将其集中在玻璃波导中，而不会对太阳能电池产生自吸收损失，产生超过5%的高功率转换效率。该项目可以为商业LSC技术的成功开发和部署提供必要的步骤，该技术对环境和经济具有深远的潜在好处。Pi-Sol Technologies Inc.与国家科学研究所的互补学术团队以及他们在日月大学的合作者的这种合作追求将导致新的先进纳米材料设计、新的BIPV设备和创新的知识产权，有助于加拿大公司在能源领域进行研发。

Commercial buildings account for 40% of total energy consumption, making it critical to exploit alternative energy sources to reduce their energy impact. Building Integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) has been identified as a promising route to integrate renewable energy into cities. Electricity-generating solar windows represent the "holy grail" in BIPV, as windows are ubiquitous in our cities and thus offer vastly higher surface area than rooftops or land. Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) are a low-cost alternative to complex, multi-layer, semi-transparent solar cells based on organic, CIGS or Si thin films. However, LSCs face two major challenges. They present low transparency, which reduces their social acceptance for large-scale application, and their limited spectral absorption range and high self-absorption losses result in poor LSC power efficiencies (<2-3%) especially for large area (>1 m2) LSCs.In this project we aim to develop scalable, high-performance LSCs, based on a multilayer tandem architecture. Rare-earth-doped SiAlON thin films deposited on glass will be used as external layers for a laminated LSC. The inner layer will consist of a quantum dot thin film with complementary absorption to SiAlON. The device will absorb the entire visible solar spectrum and concentrate it in the glass waveguides without self-absorption losses towards solar cells, yielding high power conversion efficiency over 5%. This project could provide the required steps towards the successful development and deployment of a commercial LSC technology, which offers profound potential benefits to the environment and economy.This collaborative pursuit of Pi-Sol Technologies Inc. with the complementary academic teams at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique and their collaborators at Sun Moon University will lead to new advanced nanomaterial design, new BIPV devices, and innovative intellectual property, contributing to the growth of Canadian companies working on R&D in the energy sector.