Delafossite CuRhO2 is considered as a solar radiation absorbing material for solar cells and solar-to-fuel conversion by carrying out the water splitting. The absorption features depend on the optical properties. To obtain the absorption coefficient we use the density functional theory with orbital-dependent one electron potentials. As well as analyzing the largest contributions, the absorption coefficients have been split into different species contributions. Then, the maximum absorption efficiencies, photo-currents and photo-voltages of the sunlight conversion have been obtained using the absorption coefficients, the device thickness, and the incident spectrum as optimization criteria. Furthermore the non-radiative recombination and some voltage losses are analyzed. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.