The practical realization of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells, which can directly convert heat into electric power, is of considerable technological interest. However, most existing TPV cells require heat sources at temperatures of $1800°C. Here we report a low bandgap mid-infrared cell based on InAs and demonstrate TPV operation with heat sources at temperatures in the range 500-950°C. The maximum open circuit voltage (V oc ) and short circuit current density (J sc ) were measured as 0.06 V and 0.89 A cm À2 for a blackbody temperature of 950°C and an incident power density of 720 mW cm À2 without antireflection coating or electrode optimisation. TPV operation was obtained with heat sources at temperatures as low as 500°C, which represents progress towards energy scavenging and waste heat recovery applications.

No abstract

No abstract

We demonstrate the first low bandgap thermophotovoltaic (TPV) arrays capable of operating with heat sources at temperatures as low as 345 o C, which is the lowest ever reported. The individual array elements are based on narrow band gap InAs/InAs 0.61 Sb 0.13 P 0.26 photodiode structures. External power conversion efficiency was measured to be ~3% from a single element at room temperature, using a black body at 950 o C. Both 25-element and 65-element arrays were fabricated and exhibited a TPV response at different source temperatures in the range 345-950 o C suitable for electricity generation from waste heat and other applications.

No abstract