Session: 05-05 Solar Receiver Design 3

Paper Number: 115121

115121 - Radiative Transfer in Luminescent Solar Concentrators 

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) offer a viable solution to spectrally convert and concentrate both direct and diffuse sunlight without the need for tracking. Its potential for commercialization is currently limited by the optical performance. A detailed understanding of the effects of both waveguide and luminophore properties is of paramount importance for designing efficient LSCs. Herein, a self-consistent modelling framework of radiative transfer in LSCs is presented to decipher these effects by incorporating all relevant properties at multiple scales. A modified radiative transfer equation (RTE) is derived to capture the requirement that both photon absorption and photoluminescence quantum yield should occur simultaneously in order to trigger the emission, which is absent in prior models. Combined experimental and theoretical techniques are discussed to determine the photophysical and radiative properties, which offers a closure relation. The statistical Monte Carlo method is used to solve this modified RTE along with its boundary conditions, thus closing the missing link between the RTE model and current Monte Carlo method found in literature. To demonstrate the application of this modelling framework, planar LSCs doped with a novel perylene diimide based polymer at varying concentrations are investigated, and their predicted performance is experimentally validated with absolute irradiance measurement.

Presenting Author: Sha Li EPFL

Presenting Author Biography: Sha Li obtained her Bachelor degree in Energy and Power Engineering from China University of Petroleum (Beijing) in 2012, and her Master degree in Engineering Thermophysics from Beihang University, China in 2015.
She completed her PhD at the Solar Thermal Group from the Australian National University (ANU) in 2020. She was the recipient of the 2020 Graduate Student Award of Solar Energy Division (SED), ASME. She also won the Best Oral Presentation–Third Place in the 2020 ASME Energy Sustainability Conference. Currently, she is a postdoc researcher working with Prof. Sophia Haussener at LRESE from EPFL, Switzerland since April 1, 2021.