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Large-area luminescent solar concentrators based on ‘Stokes-shift-engineered’ nanocrystals in a mass-polymerized PMMA matrix

Abstract

Luminescent solar concentrators are cost-effective complements to semiconductor photovoltaics that can boost the output of solar cells and allow for the integration of photovoltaic-active architectural elements into buildings (for example, photovoltaic windows). Colloidal quantum dots are attractive for use in luminescent solar concentrators, but their small Stokes shift results in reabsorption losses that hinder the realization of large-area devices. Here, we use ‘Stokes-shift-engineered’ CdSe/CdS quantum dots with giant shells (giant quantum dots) to realize luminescent solar concentrators without reabsorption losses for device dimensions up to tens of centimetres. Monte-Carlo simulations show a 100-fold increase in efficiency using giant quantum dots compared with core-only nanocrystals. We demonstrate the feasibility of this approach by using high-optical-quality quantum dot–polymethylmethacrylate nanocomposites fabricated using a modified industrial method that preserves the light-emitting properties of giant quantum dots upon incorporation into the polymer. Study of these luminescent solar concentrators yields optical efficiencies >10% and an effective concentration factor of 4.4. These results demonstrate the significant promise of Stokes-shift-engineered quantum dots for large-area luminescent solar concentrators.

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Figure 1: QD–LSC concept and electronic structure of thick-shell CdSe/CdS g-QDs.
Figure 2: Monte-Carlo ray-tracing simulations.
Figure 3: Optical properties of QD–PMMA nanocomposites.
Figure 4: Large-area LSC based on Stokes-shift-engineered QDs.

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Acknowledgements

S.B. and F.M. acknowledge support from the Cariplo Foundation (2012-0844), as do L.B. and R.S. (2010-0564). V.I.K., K.A.V. and R.V. were supported by the Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, US Department of Energy. S.B. thanks the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013; grant agreement no. 324603) for financial support. The authors thank M. Acciarri of the MIB-SOLAR laboratory for technical assistance in quantitative studies of solar concentration.

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Contributions

S.B. and F.M. conceived the idea of large-area LSCs based on Stokes-shift-engineered QDs. R.V. synthesized the QDs. A.C., L.B. and R.S. fabricated the QD–polymer nanocomposites. S.B., F.M. and V.I.K. planned the experiments. S.B., F.M. and M.L. performed the spectroscopic experiments. K.A.V. performed the Monte-Carlo simulations. S.B., F.M. and V.I.K. wrote the paper in consultation with all the authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Francesco Meinardi, Victor I. Klimov or Sergio Brovelli.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Meinardi, F., Colombo, A., Velizhanin, K. et al. Large-area luminescent solar concentrators based on ‘Stokes-shift-engineered’ nanocrystals in a mass-polymerized PMMA matrix. Nature Photon 8, 392–399 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2014.54

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