Full Paper

Controlling Light Emission in Luminescent Solar Concentrators Through Use of Dye Molecules Aligned in a Planar Manner by Liquid Crystals

  1. Paul P. C. Verbunt1,
  2. Anton Kaiser1,
  3. Ko Hermans1,
  4. Cees W. M. Bastiaansen1,2,
  5. Dirk J. Broer1,
  6. Michael G. Debije1,*

Article first published online: 28 JUL 2009

DOI: 10.1002/adfm.200900542

Issue

Advanced Functional Materials

Advanced Functional Materials

Volume 19, Issue 17, pages 2714–2719, September 9, 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Verbunt, P. P. C., Kaiser, A., Hermans, K., Bastiaansen, C. W. M., Broer, D. J. and Debije, M. G. (2009), Controlling Light Emission in Luminescent Solar Concentrators Through Use of Dye Molecules Aligned in a Planar Manner by Liquid Crystals. Adv. Funct. Mater., 19: 2714–2719. doi: 10.1002/adfm.200900542

Author Information

  1. 1

    Polymer Technology Chemical Engineering and Chemistry Eindhoven University of Technology Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (The Netherlands)

  2. 2

    School of Engineering and Materials Science Queen Mary University of London London E1 4NS (UK)

*Polymer Technology Chemical Engineering and Chemistry Eindhoven University of Technology Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (The Netherlands).

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 1 SEP 2009
  2. Article first published online: 28 JUL 2009
  3. Manuscript Revised: 9 JUN 2009
  4. Manuscript Received: 30 MAR 2009

Funded by

  • STW VIDI. Grant Number: 07940

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Keywords:

  • Fluorescent dyes;
  • Host–guest systems;
  • Liquid crystals;
  • Photoluminescence;
  • Photovoltaic devices;
  • Solar cells

Abstract

A luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) is a potential low-cost enhancement of the standard large-area silicon photovoltaic panels for the generation of electricity from sunlight. In this work, guest–host systems are investigated using anisotropic fluorescent dyes and liquid crystal mesogens to control the direction of emitted light in the LSC. It is determined that up to 30% more light is emitted from the edge of an LSC waveguide with planar dye alignment parallel to the alignment direction than from any edge of an LSC with no alignment (isotropic). The aligned samples continue to show dichroic performance after additions of both edge mirrors and rear scattering layer.

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