Patent ID: 8304645

Claim:
A luminescent solar collector comprising a sheet and a light energy converter operatively connected to the sheet; the sheet comprising a thermoplastic polymer, a fluorescent dye, and a dye compound dispersed therein, wherein the dye compound is selected from the group consisting of Formula (I) and Formula (II): wherein each R and R′ is independently selected from C 8 -C 18 alkyl, substituted C 8 -C 18 alkyl, C 8 -C 18 alkoxy, substituted C 8 -C 18 alkoxy, and halogen; m represents the number of R substitutents on each phenoxy ring, wherein each m is independently an integer from 0 to 5; and k represents the number of R′ substitutents on each benzimidazole group, wherein each k is independently an integer from 0 to 4; wherein the fluorescent dye and the dye compound each absorb light and radiate the absorbed light at a longer wavelength, and the sheet is configured to transmit radiated light to the light energy converter; and wherein each phenoxy ring in the dye compound is substituted at only the para position with an R group independently selected from C 8 -C 18 alkyl.