Solar energy absorption mediated by surface plasma polaritons in spectrally selective dielectric-metal-dielectric coatings: A critical review

The effective use of solar energy has become significantly important due to unnatural weather changes and fossil fuel exhaustion. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology is a promising approach to harvest solar energy in the form of heat using solar selective absorber coating. These coatings are expected to absorb maximum incoming solar radiation (α ≥ 0.95) and prevent loss of the absorbed energy as infrared radiation (ε ≤ 0.05). Efficiency of the absorber coating can be evaluated by a metric called “Solar selectivity (α/ε)”. In recent years, a number of attempts have been made to achieve remarkable selective property and high temperature stability of the absorber coating using the concept of Surface Plasma Polaritons (SPPs). The SPPs have the capability to capture solar energy by confining electromagnetic field at the metal-dielectric interface. Solar absorption, can be maximized by tailoring the optical constants of the metal and dielectric. In this review, we have described different types of solar absorber coatings with particular emphasis on dielectric-metal-dielectric (DMD) -based absorber coatings. We have presented a brief theoretical overview to comprehend physics of DMD coatings. This review additionally highlights some of the case studies based on the DMD -based absorber coatings with the high temperature stability and their importance in the context of CSP technologies.