Theoretical comparison of cylindrical and square-planar luminescent solar concentrators

The optical concentration of a cylindrical luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) is compared to that of the more conventional square-planar LSC. It is found that when luminescence occurs close to the surface the optical concentration of a cylindrical LSC is 1.0--1.9 times higher than that of a square-planar LSC of equivalent collection area and volume, depending on the absorption coefficient of the host material. An additional increase in optical concentration of at least ~4.5% can be attained by aligning cylinders side by side to take advantage of multiple reflections between neighbouring cylinders; it is shown that this multi-cylindrical LSC reflects less incident light than a planar LSC for any angle of incidence.