Hybrid system for renewable energy
The fluctuating nature of solar energy is one of the major barriers to it becoming a bigger part of the energy mix. The EU-funded project HRC POWER (Hybrid renewable energy converter for continuous and flexible power production) has investigated round-the-clock solar power. Its novel concept relies on a hybrid system that combines a number of renewable energy technologies. This hybrid renewable converter (HRC) is heated either by microcombustion, which efficiently generates high-temperature heat from biogas or hydrogen, or concentrated solar radiation. The generated heat is converted into electricity by thermoelectric or thermophotovoltaic effects. A major focus was the development of novel functional materials for advanced building blocks that can withstand high temperatures, and high-temperature joining technologies. Researchers performed thermofluidic and combustion simulations as well as thermal simulations to design components that were able to operate both under solar concentration and internal combustion. Careful consideration was also given to reducing thermal losses and increasing operating temperatures. A complete process flow was developed to generate micro/nano-structured refractory absorber metamaterials based on molybdenum films. In addition, researchers investigated various structured metallic materials based on their ability to emit infrared light with energies higher than the bandgaps of existing thermophotovoltaic cells. The project outcomes will benefit materials science through advances in ceramic materials, the integration of multi-materials for high-temperature operation and new metamaterials for the absorption of solar energy. A second significant impact is the new concept of very-high-temperature hybrid converters, which are very flexible as a wide range of temperatures can be achieved through hydrogen air combustion and by varying solar input from mirrors. HRC POWER will help to mitigate the impacts of global warming by proposing a new hybridisation pathway to enable the efficient use of renewable energy sources.
Keywords
Renewable energy, HRC POWER, hybrid renewable converter, microcombustion, thermophotovoltaic
