Plasmon coupled luminescent solar concentrators and their application in self-supplied electrochromic windows
Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) have the potential to facilitate widespread deployment of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) into our cities. However, prototype devices still fail to achieve the theoretical efficiencies due to contributions from optical loss mechanisms, including light scattering. The aim of PLECTRA is to understand, control and harness the contribution of light scattering mechanisms to design efficient LSCs that can be used in BIPV. The phenomenon of plasmon-enhanced photoluminescence, in which elastic scattering from plasmonic nanoparticles boosts the photoluminescence efficiency of a luminescent species (e.g. quantum dots), will be exploited to harness scattering and improve the LSC performance. To achieve this we will use a layer-by-layer deposition approach to prepare resonator-emitter core-satellite structures, in which the two species are separated by a quantifiable distance. Single particle scattering and photoluminescence studies, will be used to determine the required separation to obtain plasmon-coupled photoluminescence (rather than quenching). Optimised species will be incorporated into LSCs and sophisticated angle-resolved scattering measurements, in conjugation with numerical simulations, will be used to evaluate the scattering pathways in the device. Finally proof-of-concept integration of the LSCs with PV cells, and subsequently electrochromic glass will be demonstrated as evidence for potential application in BIPV.