Scalable energy efficiency modules integrating both energy recovery and passive cooling systems for the solar photovoltaic industry
The optimisation of energy efficiency and the increase of renewable energies in the energy mix are key elements for the clean energy transition to fight global warming. Solar energy is the most abundant energy source on Earth and solar photovoltaics (PV) is the third most important renewable source in terms of global installed capacity. But PV energy conversion efficiency is below 20%, while 80% of the sun’s radiation energy is lost in form of waste heat. Furthermore, the heat excess on PV modules reduces their energy conversion efficiency and the high PV module temperatures under in real-life environment reduce the lifecycle of PV modules and increases maintenance cost. LightCatcher is a disruptive solution that simultaneously addresses PV energy efficiency and the problems created by waste heat in the solar PV industry: i) recycling of waste heat into electricity and ii) passive cooling of the PV device. The combination of both effects leads to solar-to-electricity efficiencies of up to 80%. By maximising electricity production and equipment lifecycle, while reducing CAPEX, maintenance cost, and ROI time LightCatcher will reduce PV levelized cost of energy in over 33%, helping the PV industry to become cost competitive against traditional energy sources. LightCatcher is highly scalable to find direct applications for the improvement of energy efficiency in a vast range of applications such as electric vehicles, air conditioning, or as a solution for cooling, and energy recovery and reuse in industry processes. LightCatcher addresses the global market for PV Balance of Systems (BOS) that was valued over €31.2bn in 2018 and is projected to reach €71.1bn by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 21.0% from 2018 to 2023. By successfully implementing the LightCatcher project, we expect to create a measurable impact on Heatconv quantified as increased accumulated revenue of €102.6m and profit of €64.8m, creating 55 FTE in our company with 20.46 ROI by year 5 after project closure.