Self-healing solar glass hits highest power and optical efficiency

Chinese researchers led by Professor Xiyan Li at Nankai University have developed a novel self-healing, recyclable fluorescent solar glass that shows significant promise for building-integrated solar energy generation. This new material, based on a yellow-emissive ETP2SbCl5 phosphor synthesized via a simple room-temperature solution process, can be converted into glass through heating. The resulting luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) device demonstrated a power conversion efficiency of 5.56% and an optical efficiency of 32.5% in a small 3×3×0.5 cm³ sample, while maintaining a high average light transmission of 78.3%, making it suitable for practical transparent applications. Beyond its efficiency, the glass effectively absorbs ultraviolet light below 420 nm and emits light through self-trapped exciton (STE) emission with a photoluminescence quantum yield of approximately 52.6%, guiding light to solar cells placed at the edges. A key breakthrough is