These are solidified drops of
silicon that can be molded into any shape and placed on a curved
dome, which sunlight can hit from any angle. They can also be
embedded in glass to produce transparent solar cell windows [5].
Konarka developed a transparent solar cell, which has the potential
to be used in electricity-generating windows. Prototypes of such
windows are composed of a solar cell between two panes of glass.
Although they can be integrated into typical windows, some
current-collecting grids can be clearly be seen in these systems.
Transparency is an important issue in the development of
a commercially viable solar-powered glass window. A semitransparent
plastic solar cell can be fabricated in a single step
using an electronic glue-based lamination process with interface
modification [6]. The fluorescent planar concentrator was developed
for converting solar energy into electrical and thermal energy.
Direct and diffuse radiation can be collected and concentrated
using a stack of transparent sheets of material that are doped with
fluorescent dyes. The advantages of such a system include its
variable transparency, which enables it to be used in many hybrid
applications [7e9]. A dye-based organic solar concentrator that can
be integrated into building materialswas also recently developed. A
thin film of dye molecules are deposited on glass and absorb
sunlight, which is trapped and transported in the glass by total
internal reflection until it is captured by solar cells that are
mounted on the edges of the glass [10].