KIT researchers develop hybrid solar system for electricity, heating, and cooling

Researchers at the KIT Institute of Microstructure Technology, led by Dr. Gan Huang, have developed a hybrid solar system capable of simultaneously providing electricity, heating, and cooling from a single surface.

The PDRC-solar hybrid system integrates photovoltaics, solar thermal technology, and passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC). The technology utilizes a transparent emitter made of a silica substrate coated with polydimethylsiloxane. This layer allows sunlight to pass through while emitting heat as infrared radiation through the atmospheric window, a wavelength range where the Earth's atmosphere is highly transparent to thermal radiation.

Underneath the emitter, a Fresnel lens concentrates transmitted sunlight onto a compact photovoltaic-thermal sensor to produce electricity and heat. The researchers suggest this technology could be applied to energy-intensive sectors, such as AI data centers, which require both significant power and intensive cooling solutions.