Thin-Film Solar Energy Absorber Structure for Window Coatings for Self-Sufficient Futuristic Buildings

Abstract

Energy-efficient buildings are a new demand in the current era. In this paper, we present a novel metamaterial design aimed at achieving efficient solar energy absorption through a periodic MMA structure composed of a W-GaAs-W. The proposed structure can be implemented as the window coating and in turn it can absorb the incident solar energy and, then, this energy can be used to fulfill the energy demand of the building. Our results reveal significant improvements, achieving an average absorptance of 96.94% in the spectral range. Furthermore, we explore the influence of the angle of incidence on the absorber's response, demonstrating its angle-insensitive behavior with high absorption levels (above 90%) for incidence angles up to 60° for TE polarization and 40° for TM polarization. The proposed structure presents a significant advancement in metamaterial-based solar energy absorption. By exploring the effects of structural parameters and incident angles, we have demonstrated the optimized version of our proposed absorber. The potential applications of this metamaterial absorber in self-sufficient futuristic building technologies and self-sustaining systems offer new opportunities for harnessing solar energy and are a valuable contribution to future developments in the fields of metamaterials and renewable energy.