Simulations of Luminescent Solar Concentrator Bifacial Photovoltaic Mosaic Devices Containing Four Different Organic Luminophores

In this article, various design configurations of luminescent solar concentrator photovoltaic (LSC-PV) devices have been simulated using Monte Carlo raytracing. These LSC PV devices are composed of mono-crystalline silicon solar cells and cubical poly (methyl methacrylate) lightguides, each containing one of the following dyes: Lumogen F Red 305, Lumogen F Orange 240, Perylene Green, or Perylene-diimide di-tert-butylphenyl, which results in different device colors. In these devices, mono-crystalline silicon bifacial PV cell are placed in between the vertical edge(s) of neighboring cubical lightguides whereas monofacial PV cells are positioned at the bottom of a lightguide. Each device is made out of five cubical 10 × 10 × 10 mm
³
lightguides, meaning that the PV cells measure 10 × 10 mm
²
. The main research goal of this article is to evaluate the optical and electrical performance of five of such configured LSC-PV devices. Hence, the spectral distribution of irradiance received by the edges and bottom of the devices has been simulated as well as the optical efficiency of these surfaces and the power conversion efficiency of each device. The theoretical results for power conversion efficiency are in the range of 13.3% to 18% under irradiance of 1000 W/m
²
and depend on the dyes applied. Hence, this article demonstrates the potential for energy generation by these colorful LSC-PV technologies, which we have called Mosaic devices.