Using lenses to improve the output of a patterned luminescent solar concentrator

Previous work demonstrated that reabsorption, a major loss mechanism in luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs), could be reduced by patterning luminescent dyes on the device surface; emission efficiency improved considerably. However, total light output decreased due to reduced absorption of the incident light. The results of adding a (poly)carbonate lens system to a patterned waveguide to focus more of the incident light on the line patterns are presented in this work. We demonstrate a set of parameters wherein a patterned LSC with lens system on a white background can outperform a standard fully-covered waveguide using a similar scatterer.