Optical Transfer of Heat with Electrical and Light Output (OTHELLO)

With demand for clean, reliable and affordable energy rapidly growing, the ability to apply the solar spectrum wherever sunlight is available becomes ever more important. By combining valuable unexploited strengths of thin film Photovoltaics (PV) and solar optics we co-generate electricity and high temperature heat with the part of the spectrum not used by PV, without sacrificing the level of electricity generation for PV alone, unlike existing products. The optics generates high enough temperatures to efficiently drive air conditioning, refrigeration, and even cooking. As the thermal part can be fabricated at little extra cost this approach is economic even without the benefits of increasing useful energy per square metre. High-rise buildings are particularly challenging in this respect but our system can be designed for economic production of energy on walls receiving direct sunlight. This makes it possible to provide cooling in Summer, heating in winter and refrigeration at any time, allowing the panels to be sized for maximum load and offering these services at the point where they are needed in the building, a space efficient and city friendly solution wherever the markets can respond to the relentless demand for better living standards.