A window of sunny days is a new breakthrough in the use of power-emitting solar concentrator technology


It is not a whimsy that Sunny Day turns any window into a usable power source. The idea of ​​using a quantum dot illuminating solar concentrator technology has turned this idea into reality.

Is a window, it is also a power source

Illuminated Solar Concentrator (LSC) is an emerging technology for capturing sunlight that may subvert our way of thinking about energy. A joint team of researchers from the Los Angeles Alamos National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy and the University of Milan, Bicocca, Italy, published in the latest issue of Nature and Nanotechnology, "Using Heavy Metal-Free Colloidal Quantum Dots The research results of the high-efficiency large-area colorless luminescent solar concentrator.

Victor Krymoff, chief researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory, said: "In this new device, a portion of the transmitted light through the window is absorbed by the nanoparticles (semiconductor quantum dots) dispersed on the glazing. Then re-emit the infrared wavelengths that are invisible to the human eye. These waves are directed to the solar cells on the side of the window." With this design, an almost transparent window in a sunny day becomes a generator. Power the air conditioner on a hot day or power the water heater in the room during the cold winter.

Both colorless and non-toxic

In April 2014, this collaborative research team theoretically proved that the applied composite quantum dot devices are not suitable for real-world applications because they are based on toxic heavy metal cadmium and can only absorb a small portion of solar energy. This results in limited light harvesting efficiency and a dark yellow or red mark on the concentrator.

In describing this emerging research, Francisco, professor of physics at the University of Bekka, Department of Materials Science, pointed out: "In order for this technology to emerge from the laboratory as quickly as possible and to realize its full potential in sustainable buildings, it must be able to capture the entire A non-toxic concentrator for the solar spectrum."

So, researchers update methods to solve the problem of coloring. Klimov explained: "The new device uses a complex composition, often referred to simply as CISeS, including copper (Cu), indium (In), selenium (Se), and sulfur (S). Importantly, These particles do not contain any toxic metals.

He emphasized that the CISeS quantum dots provide a uniform solar spectrum coverage, which adds a window with neutral tones without any distortion in color. In addition, the near-infrared light they emit is invisible to the human eye and is ideal for the most common silicon-based solar cells.

High efficiency and low cost

A key advantage of this achievement is that it is procedurally comparable to the industrial approach of battery casting for assembling high quality polymer windows. In the manufacturing process, quantum dots need to be encapsulated in a high optical quality transparent polymer matrix. The researchers used a cross-linked polydodecyl methacrylate, which is an acrylate-based polymer whose long side chains prevent the condensation of quantum dots and provide them with a "friendly" environment to allow their encapsulation. Maintains high efficiency of quantum dot light emission onto the polymer.

Francisco said: "We still have to maintain the key capabilities of transmitting guided illuminance, and there is no absorption loss to compensate for the high optoelectronic efficiency compatible with true window size. Aesthetics are also critical to the expectations of an emerging technology. ”

Hunter McDaniel, a former postdoctoral fellow at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and currently an entrepreneur in the field of quantum dots (UbiQD founder and president) added: "The rest of the work is to solve the problem of cost reduction. Materials manufacturing quantum dots are much cheaper than previous materials. We have used a new class of low-cost, low-risk quantum dots to form a mixture of CISeS, overcoming some of the largest roadblocks for commercial deployment of this technology."

Energy efficient and environmentally friendly

Sergio Broveni, chief researcher of the Italian research team, said: "For this quantum dot solar window technology, we only demonstrated its feasibility a year ago, but in reality, it can be transferred in the short to medium term. In the industry, it not only allows us to transform the roof into a solar generator, but also changes the overall architectural style of the city, including windows."

“It’s especially important for densely populated urban areas,” he said. “The roof is still too small to collect all the energy needed for a building.” The research team estimates that replacing this skyscraper with a power supply Glass, such as the New York World Trade Center (which divides 72,000 square meters into 12,000 windows), will likely generate the equivalent of the energy needed for more than 350 apartments.

Brovini said: "The quantum dot illuminating solar concentrator itself can also save energy. The filtering effect can reduce the power required by the air conditioner and reduce the temperature increase caused by outdoor sunlight entering the house. Therefore, this technology can potentially The city is moving towards a zero-energy environmental goal."

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