Coupling Luminescent Solar Concentrators with Microalgae Photobioreactors for Carbon-Negative Building Envelopes

Abstract

Zero-energy building envelopes rely on passive insulation and conventional photovoltaics, neither of which actively sequesters atmospheric carbon. We propose a living building envelope that couples a highly transparent luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) with a flat-panel microalgae photobioreactor (Chlorella vulgaris), optically splitting incident sunlight so that the LSC harvests the ultraviolet and near-infrared bands for electricity while transmitting photosynthetically active radiation to the biological layer. This spectral division protects the algae from thermal and photo-inhibitory stress while improving overall resource use. A coupled transient thermo-optical-biological model shows that the hybrid facade increases biomass yield by up to 26% relative to a standalone photobioreactor, while simultaneously generating baseload electricity and reducing HVAC loads through active thermal mass management.