Fundamental bounds for harvesting sunlight with aperture antennae

Heylal Mashaal; Jeffrey M. Gordon

doi:10.1117/12.891904

21 September 2011 Fundamental bounds for harvesting sunlight with aperture antennae

Heylal Mashaal, Jeffrey M. Gordon

Proceedings Volume 8124, Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration VIII; 812407 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.891904
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2011, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The tantalizing prospect of using antennae for solar power conversion received preliminary consideration, but was not pursued in earnest due to the daunting challenges in suitable materials, fabrication procedures, and the rectification (conversion to DC power) of frequencies approaching 1 PHz (10¹⁵ s^-1). Recent advances in nano-materials and nano-fabrication technologies have prompted revisiting the solar antenna strategy. Coherence theory informs us that even ostensibly incoherent radiation is partially coherent on a sufficiently small scale. Based on a generalized broadband analysis, we show how the partial coherence of sunlight, exhibiting transverse partial coherence on a scale of two orders of magnitude larger than its characteristic wavelengths, impacts the potential of harvesting solar energy with aperture antennae (coherent detectors), and establish a fundamental bound. These results quantify the tradeoff between intercepted power and averaged intensity with which the effect of increasing antenna size (and hence greater system simplicity) can be evaluated.

Citation Download Citation

Heylal Mashaal and Jeffrey M. Gordon "Fundamental bounds for harvesting sunlight with aperture antennae", Proc. SPIE 8124, Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration VIII, 812407 (21 September 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.891904

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available