Description du projet
Une nouvelle technologie solaire maximise la production d’électricité
L’énergie solaire occupe une part de plus en plus prépondérante dans le bouquet électrique. Malgré le développement de nouvelles technologies qui améliorent le rendement des panneaux PV, toute la lumière du soleil qui atteint une cellule PV n’est pas convertie en électricité; une grande partie de ce rayonnement solaire se perd sous forme de chaleur. Qui plus est, la chaleur excédentaire réduit la durée de vie des modules PV et augmente les coûts d’entretien. Le projet LightCatcher, financé par l’UE, s’emploie à concevoir une solution de rupture qui combine la conversion de la chaleur perdue en électricité et le refroidissement passif des dispositifs PV. La solution proposée permettra aux panneaux PV d’atteindre des rendements de conversion solaire supérieurs à 80 % et de réduire de plus de 30 % le coût moyen actualisé de l’énergie PV. LightCatcher offrira à l’industrie solaire une solution à un coût compétitif par rapport aux sources d’énergie traditionnelles.
Objectif
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.
Champ scientifique
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processesrecycling
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringthermodynamic engineering
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesmeteorologysolar radiation
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsenergy conversion
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energysolar energyphotovoltaic
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinateur
28015 LEGANES
Espagne
L’entreprise s’est définie comme une PME (petite et moyenne entreprise) au moment de la signature de la convention de subvention.