Colorless and unidirectional diffractive-type solar concentrators compatible with existing windows
Abstract Solar concentrators laterally converge solar energy to the side of architectural glass and are attractive candidates for building-integrated photovoltaics. Present available luminescent-type and scattering-type solar concentrators suffer from omnidirectional waveguide induced low efficiency...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SpringerOpen
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | PhotoniX |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s43074-025-00178-3 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849761562325155840 |
|---|---|
| author | Dewei Zhang Zhenghao Guo Chun-Ting Xu Jianqing Li Yan-Qing Lu Wei Hu |
| author_facet | Dewei Zhang Zhenghao Guo Chun-Ting Xu Jianqing Li Yan-Qing Lu Wei Hu |
| author_sort | Dewei Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Solar concentrators laterally converge solar energy to the side of architectural glass and are attractive candidates for building-integrated photovoltaics. Present available luminescent-type and scattering-type solar concentrators suffer from omnidirectional waveguide induced low efficiency, coloring/hazing restrained aesthetic quality, and poor compatibility with existing architectural glass. Here, we propose a diffractive solar concentrator via directly coating cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) layers onto the architectural glass. The stacked CLC layers with submicron lateral periodic alignment enable broadband and unidirectional waveguiding inside the glass, and thus supply a high-efficient platform for transmissive solar energy capturing with merits of high aesthetic quality and economic viability. A 1-inch-diameter prototype powers a 10-mW fan outdoors, and a typical 2-m-wide window is calculated to concentrate solar energy by 50 times. The design is expected to bring a global terawatt-scale green energy supply and billion-ton annual carbon emission reduction, meeting with the sustainable development of human society. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c459e86941574e9e8ccf921501efa547 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2662-1991 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PhotoniX |
| spelling | doaj-art-c459e86941574e9e8ccf921501efa5472025-08-20T03:05:59ZengSpringerOpenPhotoniX2662-19912025-07-016111210.1186/s43074-025-00178-3Colorless and unidirectional diffractive-type solar concentrators compatible with existing windowsDewei Zhang0Zhenghao Guo1Chun-Ting Xu2Jianqing Li3Yan-Qing Lu4Wei Hu5National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optical Sensing and Manipulation, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing UniversityNational Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optical Sensing and Manipulation, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing UniversityNational Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optical Sensing and Manipulation, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing UniversityNational Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optical Sensing and Manipulation, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing UniversityNational Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optical Sensing and Manipulation, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing UniversityNational Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optical Sensing and Manipulation, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing UniversityAbstract Solar concentrators laterally converge solar energy to the side of architectural glass and are attractive candidates for building-integrated photovoltaics. Present available luminescent-type and scattering-type solar concentrators suffer from omnidirectional waveguide induced low efficiency, coloring/hazing restrained aesthetic quality, and poor compatibility with existing architectural glass. Here, we propose a diffractive solar concentrator via directly coating cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) layers onto the architectural glass. The stacked CLC layers with submicron lateral periodic alignment enable broadband and unidirectional waveguiding inside the glass, and thus supply a high-efficient platform for transmissive solar energy capturing with merits of high aesthetic quality and economic viability. A 1-inch-diameter prototype powers a 10-mW fan outdoors, and a typical 2-m-wide window is calculated to concentrate solar energy by 50 times. The design is expected to bring a global terawatt-scale green energy supply and billion-ton annual carbon emission reduction, meeting with the sustainable development of human society.https://doi.org/10.1186/s43074-025-00178-3Diffractive opticsSolar concentratorsLiquid crystals |
| spellingShingle | Dewei Zhang Zhenghao Guo Chun-Ting Xu Jianqing Li Yan-Qing Lu Wei Hu Colorless and unidirectional diffractive-type solar concentrators compatible with existing windows PhotoniX Diffractive optics Solar concentrators Liquid crystals |
| title | Colorless and unidirectional diffractive-type solar concentrators compatible with existing windows |
| title_full | Colorless and unidirectional diffractive-type solar concentrators compatible with existing windows |
| title_fullStr | Colorless and unidirectional diffractive-type solar concentrators compatible with existing windows |
| title_full_unstemmed | Colorless and unidirectional diffractive-type solar concentrators compatible with existing windows |
| title_short | Colorless and unidirectional diffractive-type solar concentrators compatible with existing windows |
| title_sort | colorless and unidirectional diffractive type solar concentrators compatible with existing windows |
| topic | Diffractive optics Solar concentrators Liquid crystals |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s43074-025-00178-3 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT deweizhang colorlessandunidirectionaldiffractivetypesolarconcentratorscompatiblewithexistingwindows AT zhenghaoguo colorlessandunidirectionaldiffractivetypesolarconcentratorscompatiblewithexistingwindows AT chuntingxu colorlessandunidirectionaldiffractivetypesolarconcentratorscompatiblewithexistingwindows AT jianqingli colorlessandunidirectionaldiffractivetypesolarconcentratorscompatiblewithexistingwindows AT yanqinglu colorlessandunidirectionaldiffractivetypesolarconcentratorscompatiblewithexistingwindows AT weihu colorlessandunidirectionaldiffractivetypesolarconcentratorscompatiblewithexistingwindows |