Abstract The effective incorporation of photovoltaic (PV) elements into the urban environment, specifically in buildings, is a challenging process. Apart from the aesthetic limitations of having black and opaque PV cells when installed in building facades, they are not optimally positioned for high-efficiency electric energy generation because of shadowing effects due to neighboring trees and buildings. Emphasis is given to luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) that have emerged as an appealing solution for concentrating a large area of sunlight into a small beam of high field intensity. The coupling of PV cells to the edges of LSCs also presents an exciting strategy to PV urban integration. Here, we outline the mechanistic framework for LSCs, review the current experimental state of the art involving optically active centers in various geometrical device configurations, and discuss the performance quantification of LSCs currently in development. For the sake of completeness, a brief discussion of the other spectral converters suitable for PV applications is also reported.

中文翻译：

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光伏光谱转换器——未来发展方向

摘要 将光伏 (PV) 元素有效地融入城市环境，特别是建筑中，是一个具有挑战性的过程。除了在建筑立面上安装黑色和不透明光伏电池的美学限制外，由于邻近树木和建筑物的阴影效应，它们不是高效发电的最佳位置。重点是发光太阳能聚光器 (LSC)，它已成为将大面积阳光聚集成高场强小光束的有吸引力的解决方案。光伏电池与 LSC 边缘的耦合也为光伏城市整合提供了一个令人兴奋的策略。在这里，我们概述了 LSC 的机制框架，回顾目前在各种几何器件配置中涉及光学活性中心的现有实验状态，并讨论目前正在开发的 LSC 的性能量化。为完整起见，还报告了适用于 PV 应用的其他光谱转换器的简要讨论。