Energy System based on Integration between a Thermo-Photo-Voltaic generator and an Organic Rankine Cycle

This paper presents the TORCIS (Thermophotovoltaic Organic Rankine Cycle Integrated System) that is an integration between a ThermoPhotoVoltaic generator (TPV) and an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) for cogenerative application. The paper represents the start up of a research program which involves three research teams from IMEM - CNR, MechLav - Technopole of Ferrara and DIEM - University of Bologna; the aim of the research is the complete definition and the pre-prototyping characterization of this system covering all the unresolved issues on this field. A thermodynamic analysis of this system is presented and discussed in order to highlight its potential in the distributed generation scenario.