Theses and Dissertations

Jing Wen

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Berg, Matthew J.

Committee Member

Wang, Chuji

Committee Member

Arnoldus, Henk F.

Date of Degree

12-14-2013

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Physics

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

This work shows a laboratory based demonstration that elastic scattering from a layer of wavelength-sized particles can be used to concentrate sunlight for use in photovoltaic power production. The concentrator design consists of a layer of particles dispersed across a mirrored glass plate. Photovoltaic cells line the edges of the plate, which receive light that is coupled into the plate via scattering by the particles and confined thereafter by total internal reflection. All materials used to construct the concentrator are low-cost off-the-shelf items typically available at hardware stores. The net power produced is compared to a single, bare cell that is directly illuminated by the same light source. This comparison shows a promising trend in terms of overall concentrator size that may eventually yield a concentrator capable of producing more power than that produced by the same amount of cell material under direct illumination.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/19062

Comments

concentrator||solar energy||scattering

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