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Unversität Zürich

Christophe Bauer

Gion Calzaferri

Andreas Kunzmann

Dominik Brühwiler

A luminescence concentrator (LK) may concentrate both incident direct and diffuse light by way of frequency shift and total internal reflection. It differs fundamentally from geometric concentrators. With sufficient geometric expansion of the collector plate, nearly arbitrarily high concentration can be achieved in the LK. A luminescence disperser is an apparatus which holds both directional and nondirectional incident light captive in a transparent body by way of frequency shift and total internal reflection and emits it diffusely or directionally uniformly distributed across an area by way of luminescence emission. The object of the invention is a method for the technical implementation of the LK and luminescence disperser, using zeolite crystals having a nanotube structure, into which the luminescent dyes are embedded such that they have antenna properties. Using the resulting novel structures, problems can be solved which made the technical use of LK impossible or at least considerably limited it. This results in completely novel usage possibilities for collecting and concentrating sun light and feeding it into photovoltaic systems, for converting it into electric and thermal energy in combined photovoltaic/hot water apparatuses, and for feeding it into fiber optic apparatuses.

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Zurich, Switzerland

Christophe Bauer