Patent ID: 8420928

Claim:
In a furnace for an industrial process, the furnace comprising: a heating chamber to heat materials, wherein during the heating of the materials, heat is generated in the form of radiated light, wherein the generated radiated light is in a first wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum, an improvement comprising: a device for converting the heat in the form of radiated light to electric energy, the device comprising: a housing comprising an outer wall, a closed first end and an opposite closed second end to provide the housing with an enclosed interior; a cooling jacket mounted within the enclosed interior of the housing, the cooling jacket extending from the first end to the second end of the housing and spaced from inner surface of the enclosed interior of the housing, the cooling jacket comprising an inlet fluid chamber and an outlet fluid chamber with access to the inlet and outlet fluid chambers at the second end of the housing; a viewing window in the outer wall of the housing, wherein the viewing window is spaced a first distance from the first end of the housing and spaced a second distance from the second end of the housing, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance, and a photovoltaic cell responsive to the radiated light, wherein the photovoltaic cell is mounted in a recess in the cooling jacket and is spaced from the inner surface of the enclosed interior of the housing, wherein a surface of the photovoltaic cell is in a spaced relationship to the viewing window whereby portions of the radiated light passing through the viewing window impinges on the surface of the photovoltaic cell, and an arrangement to position the device relative to the heating chamber such that the radiated light passes through the viewing window and impinge on the surface of the photovoltaic cell to convert the radiated light impinging on the surface of the photovoltaic cell to electric energy, and an electric load electrically connected to the photovoltaic cell to receive the electric energy from the device.