Luminescent solar power: PV/thermal hybrid electricity generation for cost effective dispatchable solar energy

Shimry Haviv; Natali Revivo; Nimrod Kruger; Assaf Manor; Bagrat Khachatryan; Michael Shustov; Carmel Rotschild

doi:10.1021/acsami.0c08185

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arXiv · 2012.08314

Luminescent solar power: PV/thermal hybrid electricity generation for cost effective dispatchable solar energy

Shimry Haviv·Natali Revivo·Nimrod Kruger·Assaf Manor·Bagrat Khachatryan·Michael Shustov·Carmel Rotschild

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Abstract

The challenge in solar energy today is not the cost of photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation, already competing with fossil fuel prices, but rather utility-scale energy storage and flexibility in supply. Low-cost thermal energy storage (TES) exists but relies on expensive heat engines. Here, we introduce the concept of luminescent solar power (LSP), where sunlight is absorbed in a photoluminescent (PL) absorber, followed by red-shifted PL emission matched to an adjacent PV cell's band-edge. This way the PV cell operates nearly as efficiently as under direct illumination, but with minimal excessive heat. The PL-absorber temperature rises due to thermalization, allowing it to store the excessive heat, which can later be converted into electricity. Tailored luminescent materials that support an additional 1.5kWh PV-electricity for every 1 kWh of (virtual) heat engine-electricity, with a dynamic shift between the two sources are experimentally demonstrated. Such an ideal hybrid system may lead to a potential reduction in the cost of electricity for a base-load solution.

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Shimry Haviv, Natali Revivo, Nimrod Kruger, Assaf Manor, Bagrat Khachatryan, Michael Shustov, Carmel Rotschild. 2020-12-13. Luminescent solar power: PV/thermal hybrid electricity generation for cost effective dispatchable solar energy. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c08185

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