The Future's Brighter at the Edges: Modelling and Designs for Efficient Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) are fluorescent particle doped planar devices which collect light incident on their large collection faces, and concentrate it to the edges. There, the light can be coupled into photovoltaic devices and converted into electricity. In this thesis I present a series of studies, combining fabrication, characterisation, computational modelling and analytical solutions in order to progress the understanding of, and to increase, the efficiency of LSC devices. The work is structured around a back-bone of an in-house built experimentally verified Monte- Carlo ray tracing platform, which accurately predicts the efficiency and losses of LSC devices. I have extended the modelling platform by integrating a novel time-domain aspect to the simulations, predicting the impulse response of LSC devices. I present experimental verification of these predictions, whilst also demonstrating their application in the context of bandwidth prediction for the use of LSCs as detectors for data transmission in Visual Light Communications. The technique is not limited to this application, as it can provide a deeper understanding of the advancement of LSCs for all applications. Importantly, the modifications are simple to integrate into existing simulation platforms. I have also expanded the model to investigate the effects of curvature on LSC efficiency. Curvature and flexibility in LSCs can expand the range of available applications and fabrication techniques. Here, I demonstrate the potentially detrimental effects induced by curvature as well as the mechanisms behind them. Furthermore, I have provided a potential solution to reduce curvature induced losses by demonstrating a novel, fully flexible, LSC – distributed Bragg reflector combination. I have shown that the all-silicone based design, fabricated using scalable techniques, not only boosts LSC efficiency but also severely decouples the efficiency of such devices from the effects of curvature, paving a route to highly efficient flexible LSCs.