Fluorescent organic dyes for Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) are photovoltaic device of third generation, composed by a polymer doped with a dye, in contact with a PV cell. The aim of the device is to improve the photovoltaic efficiency of the PV cell, reducing the costs of materials and of installations. The design of fluorophore is a crucial step. In this work we foculized our attention on benzo-bisthiazole core and quinoxaline one. New organic dyes were synthetized and characterized spectroscopically in solution and in different polymer matrices. The best results are achieved for quinoxaline derivatives showing a good optical efficiency, about 10%, higher than the commercial reference, Lumogen Red 305 (?=7.4%) at the same concentration (1.8% w/w).