Project description
New solar technology maximises electricity production
Solar energy is an increasingly mainstream part of the electricity mix. Despite the development of new technologies for better PV panel performance, not all of the sunlight that reaches a PV cell is converted into electricity; a great amount is lost as heat. What’s more, the excess heat reduces PV module lifetime and increases maintenance costs. The EU-funded LightCatcher project is developing a disruptive solution combining conversion of waste heat into electricity as well as passive cooling of the PV devices. The proposed solution will help PV panels reach solar conversion efficiencies over 80 %, and reduce PV levelised cost of energy by over 30 %. LightCatcher will thus provide a cost-competitive to the solar industry against traditional energy sources.
Objective
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.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering waste management waste treatment processes recycling
- engineering and technology environmental engineering ecosystem-based management climatic change mitigation
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering thermodynamic engineering
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels energy conversion
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy solar energy photovoltaic
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
28015 LEGANES
Spain
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.