Biomimetic designs for Phase Change Materials containment and heat discharge
| Biomimetic | Biomimetics are artificial materials that mimic biological structures. For example, the honeycomb structure is one that occurs in nature. However, it is a very efficient structure in the amount of surface are it encapsulates for the amount of bees-wax it requires. Honeycomb structures are frequently imitated in materials design as a way of achieving similar efficiencies. |
| Climatically tunable | This is a programmable heating system that is attuned to the climate - it can operate effectively without needing to be directly programmed by the user to take into effect the time of year. The information required for it to make intelligent decisions as to what heating and cooling to deploy comes from local meterology data. In effect, the user chooses the ideal temperature of the room (say, 19 degrees Celsius) and the system automatically maintains that exact temperature. The novel element is that the system can plan ahead and decide which components to activate based on medium to long term projections. |
Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) |
This is an arrangement of reflective materials which increases the amount of light that is focused onto the solar cell array. |
| Luminescent Downshifting (LDS) layer | From 'luminescent' meaning LIGHT. This is a microscopically thin, translucent layer that is applied over a PV cell. This has the effect of trapping heat and electrical energy. The energy that would normally be reflected off the surface of the PV cell is reflected back downwards onto the cell where additional energy can be gained - as much as 20% more. |
| Phase Change Materials | Materials that, when they change 'phase' (when they melt or freeze), they absorb or release heat allowing them to be used to store heat or cold. |