Development of a Neutral Color Photovoltaic Window Based on Luminescent Solar Concentrators

This work describes a prototype of a neutral color solar window based on LSC technology that was developed by University of Ferrara and Eni and installed on a building in the Eni Donegani research center for renewable energy and the environment in Novara (Italy). The main purpose of these devices is to generate energy from the transparent surfaces of buildings and, at the same time, to obtain both an aesthetically appealing façade and provide a good quality illumination in the rooms of the building. Five of these prototypes with an active area of 0.61m2 were assembled and installed as the windows of a test building at the Eni Donegani site. The optical, colorimetric and electrical performances of the windows were measured both on-site and off-site at the end of the assembly process. The prototypes showed an average transmittance of 42.2% in the standard visible range (400-700nm) and when lit by sunlight behave as a light source with a CRI of 94.4, which is comparable to halogen lamps. The power production was 2.8W when installed on a diffusive background that drops to 1.2W when installed on the test building which has a non diffusive background.