Dutch student offers new insights into power-generating windows
On 5 July Jan Willem Wiegman graduated from TU Delft with his research into power-generating windows. The Applied Physics Masters student calculated how much electricity can be generated using so-called luminescent solar concentrators. These are windows which have been fitted with a thin film of material that absorbs sunlight and directs it to narrow solar cells at the perimeter of the window. Wiegman shows the relationship between the colour of the material used and the maximum amount of power that can be generated. Such power-generating windows offer potential as a cheap source of solar energy. Wiegmans research article, which he wrote together with his supervisor Erik van der Kolk, has been published in the journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells.