Currently existing commercially available solar energy systems are not only very expensive because of the price of the solar cells themselves, but have also a very long payback period and do not work properly in diffuse light. Moreover, solar energy research tends to focus on performance rather than on costs. For instance, some universities study luminescent sources, thin films or organic solar cells.
However, MAXXUN, a start-up company, is working on the production of an innovative and disruptive solar cells' system based on the luminescent solar concentrating (LSC) technology that can be grid-connected. This system, supported by Mr van der Blom from The Netherlands, has several technical and aesthetical advantages over existing systems. Its main advantages are that it is able to lower the investment for a solar energy system by more than half and that the costs of the generated electricity are a factor 2 lowered compared to commercially available systems.
MAXXUN forecasts to be competitive with the electricity grid within 6 years and expand its innovation first in the German market and then in the European market. Thus, targets will mainly be European households and also small and medium companies. Their project could even be expanded to Africa or Asia in power generation facility markets.
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More precisely, the luminescent solar concentrating system is made of a large plastic sheet, a fluorescent layer and a solar cell. The fluorescent layer absorbs and then emits light at the right wavelength. Part of this emitted light is then trapped in the plastic sheet, used as a waveguide, and transported via total internal reflection towards to the solar cell.
The innovation of this project is first of all the use of newly developed fluorescent molecules (which are in the fluorescent layer) which are more than 95% efficient. The second innovative aspect concerns the layer, which is applied on the top of the system. This layer allows sunlight to enter the system but not exit.
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