Advanced Photonics and Advanced Photonics Nexus welcome submissions to a joint theme issue on Solar and Thermal Photonics.
As energy demands increase and energy resources diminish, one source of energy remains unlimited, omnipresent, and ubiquitous: solar/thermal radiation. Thus, taming and controlling solar and thermal radiation, both referring to the emission of photons due to incandescence, has been a topic of rapidly advancing research. Also, the conversion of sunlight photons into fuels or electricity is rapidly shaping as a path towards sustainably overcoming the energy crisis. In this special issue, we welcome papers in a diverse area of photonics, spanning the visible and infrared spectrum of radiation, with focus on energy harvesting and related applications.
Topics as diverse as artificial photosynthesis, light-assisted catalysis and chemistry, thermophotovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power, solar batteries and energy storage, radiative cooling, solar thermal evaporation, all rely on controlling sunlight photons and their interaction with matter and nanoscale devices. With recent progress in nanofabrication as well as materials, solar cell efficiencies have exceeded the Shockley-Queisser limit with triple junction PVs, thermophotovoltaic efficiencies have exceeded 40%, and solar thermophotovoltaic efficiencies can exceed these numbers. These examples demonstrate that the limits for solar research are always upshifting; there is plenty of room under the sun.
In this special issue, our aim is to cover topics listed below:
- Light-harvesting for solar cells
- Light-harvesting for thermal batteries
- Light-harvesting for thermophotovoltaics and solar thermophotovoltaics
- Thermal emissivity control for radiative cooling
- Thermal emissivity control for thermophotovoltaic performance enhancement
- Metamaterials and metasurfaces for spectrally, directionally, and polarization selective thermal radiation
- Actively tunable thermal emission
- Thermal stability of materials
- Solar thermal conversion and utilization
- Phase-change materials for active photonics at visible and IR frequencies
- Radiative cooling for thermal management
- Nonreciprocal thermal emission / absorption
All papers will undergo standard peer-review processes. Manuscripts should be submitted according to the journal guidelines. A cover letter indicating that the submission is intended for this theme issue should be included. Papers are published as soon as they are accepted for publication, and final proofs are approved. NOTE: Submissions to Advanced Photonics are by invitation only.
