Design and Optimization of Thermophotovoltaic System Cavity with Mirrors

Zhou, Tian; Sun, Zhiqiang; Li, Saiwei; Liu, Huawei; Yi, Danqing

doi:10.3390/en9090722

“…Both Auger and SRH recombination will increase the dark current and limit the device performance [161]. Recently, Zhou et al [162] investigated the utilization and optimization of TPV system cavity, which consists of emitter, PV cells, and mirrors to modify the spatial and spectral distribution within the system. It was demonstrated that careful design of the cavity configuration can significantly enhance the performance of the TPV cell.…”

Section: Performance Of Ingaas-based Tpv Cellmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on Thermophotovoltaic Cell and Its Applications in Energy Conversion: Issues and Recommendations

Gamel

¹

,

Lee

²

,

Rashid

³

et al. 2021

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Generally, waste heat is redundantly released into the surrounding by anthropogenic activities without strategized planning. Consequently, urban heat islands and global warming chronically increases over time. Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems can be potentially deployed to harvest waste heat and recuperate energy to tackle this global issue with supplementary generation of electrical energy. This paper presents a critical review on two dominant types of semiconductor materials, namely gallium antimonide (GaSb) and indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs), as the potential candidates for TPV cells. The advantages and drawbacks of non-epitaxy and epitaxy growth methods are well-discussed based on different semiconductor materials. In addition, this paper critically examines and summarizes the electrical cell performance of TPV cells made of GaSb, InGaAs and other narrow bandgap semiconductor materials. The cell conversion efficiency improvement in terms of structural design and architectural optimization are also comprehensively analyzed and discussed. Lastly, the practical applications, current issues and challenges of TPV cells are critically reviewed and concluded with recommendations for future research. The highlighted insights of this review will contribute to the increase in effort towards development of future TPV systems with improved cell conversion efficiency.

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“…To date, most research on TPV/STPV systems has focused on PV cells [18]- [25], absorbers/emitters [26]- [34], and optical filters to reflect out-of-band photons back to the emitter [31]- [36]. However, the design of optical cavities for STPV systems has rarely been studied, despite the fact that optical cavities can be used to increase the system efficiency, photon recycling (also known as photon recuperation or regenerative TPV [35]), and emitter-to-cell effective view factor [37], [38]. Optical cavities can be made using durable and relatively inexpensive mirror-polished metallic surfaces that direct the radiation from the emitter toward the TPV cell [39].…”

Section: Ellipsoidal Optical Cavities For Enhanced Thermophotovoltaicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ellipsoidal Optical Cavities for Enhanced Thermophotovoltaics

Talebzadeh

¹

,

Pirvaram

²

,

O’Brien

³

2022

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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Herein we present an optical cavity in the form of a prolate ellipsoid that can greatly enhance the performance of solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) systems. The geometrical parameters of the cavity can be designed to control the degree of photon recycling, the temperature of the emitter within the STPV system, gap distance and effective view factor between the PV cell and the emitter, and to minimize the emission losses. Numerical analysis shows the ellipsoidal optical cavity can be designed to achieve an effective view factor of 88.7% between the emitter and PV cell within a STPV system. Results show an efficiency of 5.62% in a STPV system with a GaSb PV cell and a black-body emitter under solar radiation at a concentration factor of 350X. Further, assuming the surface of the ellipsoidal optical cavity is capable of reflecting 99% of the radiation incident onto its surface, efficiencies of 15.54% can be attained when the solar concentration factor is 1400X. These results are attained for STPV systems without using selective absorbers, emitters or filters. The ellipsoidal optical cavity can be integrated into the design of advanced TPV systems and bring them closer to the high theoretical efficiencies TPV systems are capable of.

show abstract

“…To date, most research on TPV/STPV systems has focused on PV cells [18]- [25], absorbers/emitters [26]- [34], and optical filters to reflect out-of-band photons back to the emitter [31]- [36]. However, the design of optical cavities for STPV systems has rarely been studied, despite the fact that optical cavities can be used to increase the system efficiency, photon recycling (also known as photon recuperation or regenerative TPV [35]), and emitter-to-cell effective view factor [37], [38]. Optical cavities can be made using durable and relatively inexpensive mirror-polished metallic surfaces that direct the radiation from the emitter toward the TPV cell [39].…”

Section: Ellipsoidal Optical Cavities For Enhanced Thermophotovoltaicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ellipsoidal Optical Cavities for Enhanced Thermophotovoltaics

O’Brien¹,

Talebzadeh²,

Pirvaram³

2021

Preprint

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Herein we present an optical cavity in the form of a prolate ellipsoid that can greatly enhance the performance of solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) systems. The geometrical parameters of the cavity can be designed to control the degree of photon recycling, the temperature of the emitter within the STPV system, gap distance and effective view factor between the PV cell and the emitter, and to minimize the emission losses. Numerical analysis shows the ellipsoidal optical cavity can be designed to achieve an effective view factor of 88.7% between the emitter and PV cell within a STPV system. Results show an efficiency of 5.62% in a STPV system with a GaSb PV cell and a black-body emitter under solar radiation at a concentration factor of 350X. Further, assuming the surface of the ellipsoidal optical cavity is capable of reflecting 99% of the radiation incident onto its surface, efficiencies of 15.54% can be attained when the solar concentration factor is 1400X. These results are attained for STPV systems without using selective absorbers, emitters or filters. The ellipsoidal optical cavity can be integrated into the design of advanced TPV systems and bring them closer to the high theoretical efficiencies TPV systems are capable of.

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Design and Optimization of Thermophotovoltaic System Cavity with Mirrors

Cited by 8 publications

References 21 publications

A Review on Thermophotovoltaic Cell and Its Applications in Energy Conversion: Issues and Recommendations

A Review on Thermophotovoltaic Cell and Its Applications in Energy Conversion: Issues and Recommendations

Ellipsoidal Optical Cavities for Enhanced Thermophotovoltaics

Ellipsoidal Optical Cavities for Enhanced Thermophotovoltaics

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