Increasing the Area of a White Scattering Background can Increase the Power Output of a Luminescent Solar Concentrator

Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) are fluorescent sheets of glass or plastic that absorb sunlight and concentrate their fluorescence using total internal reflection onto photovoltaic solar cells for energy conversion. LSCs have the potential to generate electricity at a lower cost than standard solar panels. Some light incident on an LSC passes through without being absorbed. To increase efficiency, an inexpensive white background is placed underneath to scatter this light back into the LSC for a second chance of absorption. Traditionally, this white background is placed very close to the LSC. I have discovered the LSC’s power output increases by increasing the area of the white background and separating it from the LSC by an optimal air gap. Using an Arduino-controlled apparatus, the LSC’s power output was measured while varying the size of the air gap for nine different areas of square backgrounds. By optimally separating a background 16 times the area of the LSC, its overall power output was increased 28.5% compared to using an optimized white background of equal size.