Researchers aim to assess the economic and technical feasibility of these luminescent solar concentrators.
Image: University of Technology
The Netherlands is making a push toward renewable energy sources with their new testing of solar energy generating noise barriers, which will be installed along highways. Researchers are currently testing the first phase of these energy storage devices, which generate electricity using solar cells integrated in noise barriers.
Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology have implemented luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) that are aesthetically attractive and should lead to promising energy efficiency levels.
“Further benefits are that the principle used is low cost, they can be produced in any desired, regular color, is robust, and the LSCs will even work when the sky is cloudy. That means it offers tremendous potential,” said Michael Debije of Eindhoven University of Technology’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry.
This from Eindhoven University of Technology:
Each of the two noise barriers used in the practical test is 5 meters wide and 4.5 meters high, and as well as the LSC panels it also contains semi-transparent panels holding classical solar cells, for comparison purposes. The first research results show that 1 km of energy-generating noise barriers can produce enough electricity to supply 50 households with power.
Head over to the Digital Library to read more about LSCs.
