Harvest / Energy

Harvest / Energy is a device that uses an adjustable fresnel lens to focus the sunlight to use hydrated quicklime as a thermochemical energy storage. The focal point generated by the lens is burning the limestone generating quicklime CaO. Lime is one of the cheapest thermochemical storage materials, environmentally friendly and already available as an industrial mass product. Quicklime can be stored airtight and rehydrated generating heat energy via a thermochemical reaction.

This project was part of the exhibition Harvest during Milan Design Week 2023 at Alcova, which dealt with the metrics of large-scale change and individual consumption.
The central idea was to develop a series of devices that integrate in contemporary domestic environments, process and deliver a measured portion of different, valuable and necessary commodities such as clean water, warmth/-cold, energy and “matter” to one household and thus offer valid perspectives towards how to solve global problems.


By               Jesse Jacobsen, Paul Meyer, Karl Sperhake
Year             2023
Exhibitions      Alcova, Milan Design Week 2023
                 Transform! Designing the Future of Energy, Vitra Design Museum