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Renewable energy

Better luminescent solar panels in prospect

Nature volume 519, pages 298–299 (2015)Cite this article

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Devices known as luminescent solar concentrators could find use as renewable-energy generators, but have so far been plagued by a major light-reabsorption effect. A new study offers a promising route to tackling this problem.

Owing to their bright colours, flexibility of both shape and form, and their lightweight nature, LSC panels could find applications in urban settings where the installation of conventional photovoltaic panels would be inappropriate — whether because of the presence of predominantly indirect sunlight or the risk of damage or for aesthetic reasons. An LSC panel will not generate the same electrical output as a conventional photovoltaic panel with the same surface area, but its potential as a structural building element (Fig. 1) and its adaptability to huge-area architectures make it an attractive option for turning common objects such as sound barriers, bicycle sheds, park benches and bus stops into electricity generators.

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Figure 1: A potential application of the luminescent solar concentrator.

Perry Mastrovito/All Canada Photos/Alamy

Figure 2: The working principle of the luminescent solar concentrator.

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  1. Michael Debije is in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, the Netherlands.,

    Michael Debije

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  1. Michael Debije
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Correspondence to Michael Debije.

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Debije, M. Better luminescent solar panels in prospect. Nature 519, 298–299 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/519298a

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