Newton Fund-Integrating water cooled concentrated photovoltaics with waste heat reuse

高度集中的光伏（HCPV）系统利用集中的太阳能通量，使用廉价的光学部件代替大面积的昂贵的光伏电池。然而，HCPV芯片-由于其较高的能量通量-产生大量的废热，这降低了其能量转换效率。新型的微尺度水冷系统（即微流控芯片）可以有效地调节光电池的温度，从而提高电池的能量效率。此外，由冷却剂提取的热量可以在以下方面重新使用：食品和药品阶段：运行吸收式制冷单元（其中工作流体的蒸发导致冷却），用于食品保存和疫苗储存，这需要相当大的能量消耗。水：采用膜法淡化水，使盐水适合家庭和农业使用。燃料：将水冷HCPV系统与一种或多种余热回收技术相结合，可以对巴西面临的水、能源、食品、医疗保健和环境挑战产生重大积极影响-这与“食品能源水环境关系”主题非常一致。

Highly concentrated photovoltaic (HCPV) systems exploit concentrated solar flux using cheap optical components in lieu of large area, expensive photovoltaic cells. However, HCPV chips - due to their higher energy flux - generate considerable amount of waste heat which lowers their energy conversion efficiency. Novel microscale water cooling systems (i.e. microfluidic chips) can effectively regulate the photovoltaics cell temperature, thereby enhancing the cell energy efficiency. Additionally, the heat extracted by the coolant can be reused in: a. Food and Pharmaceutical stage: to run an absorption refrigeration unit (where evaporation of a working fluid causes cooling) for food preservation and storage of vaccines, that require considerable energy use.b. Water: membrane based water desalination processes to make saline water suitable for domestic and agricultural use c. Fuel: for efficient production biodiesel Integrating water cooled HCPV systems with one or more of these waste heat recovery technologies can have major positive impact on water, energy, food, healthcare and environmental challenges faced by Brazil - this is very well-aligned with the 'Food energy water environment nexus' theme.