Evaluation of thermophotovoltaic conversion efficiency

Demichelis, Francesca; Minetti-Mezzetti, E.; Agnello, M.; Tresso, Elena Maria

doi:10.1063/1.330421

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…This convection would excite high-temperature phonons in the semiconductor, suppressing the PV effect. 19 The heating of the PV medium by the thermal radiation of the emitter also results in the excitation of phonons. It is a harmful effect restricting the overall efficiency of the PV conversion.…”

Section: Prospectives Of Micro-gap Tpv Systems and Wire Metamatermentioning

confidence: 99%

Effective-medium model of wire metamaterials in the problems of radiative heat transfer

Mirmoosa

Rüting

Nefedov

et al. 2014

Journal of Applied Physics

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In the present work, we check the applicability of the effective medium model (EMM) to the problems of radiative heat transfer (RHT) through so-called wire metamaterials (WMMs)composites comprising parallel arrays of metal nanowires. It is explained why this problem is so important for the development of prospective thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems. Previous studies of the applicability of EMM for WMMs were targeted by the imaging applications of WMMs. The analogous study referring to the transfer of radiative heat is a separate problem that deserves extended investigations. We show that WMMs with practically realizable design parameters transmit the radiative heat as effectively homogeneous media. Existing EMM is an adequate tool for qualitative prediction of the magnitude of transferred radiative heat and of its effective frequency band. V

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Section: Prospectives Of Micro-gap Tpv Systems and Wire Metamatermentioning

confidence: 99%

Effective-medium model of wire metamaterials in the problems of radiative heat transfer

Mirmoosa

Rüting

Nefedov

et al. 2014

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…Several studies have been devoted towards quantifying the performance limits of TPV energy conversion devices (Coutts and Ward, 1999;Coutts and Benner, 1995;Demichelis et al, 1982;Shi et al, 2001;Whale and Cravalho, 2002). Most of them focused on the thermodynamic limits of energy conversion with no spectral control based on the approach by Shockley and Quiesser (1961).…”

Section: Efficiency Of Tpv Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of the photons incident on a TPV cell are lost due to the shadowing by the electrodes which further reduces the efficiency (Green, 1982). Absorption of photons by the electrodes, electrical interconnects, and other non-power producing areas of the TPV arrays are often referred to as parasitic absorption (Demichelis et al, 1982;Mahorter et al, 2003). In order to avoid the absorption, non-power producing areas of the TPV system need to be minimized or coated with a reflective material to recycle the energy back to the radiator.…”

Section: Efficiency Of Tpv Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microscale radiation in thermophotovoltaic devices—A review

Basu

Chen

Zhang

2007

Int. J. Energy Res.

217

131

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SUMMARYFast depleting reserves of conventional energy sources has resulted in an urgent need for increasing energy conversion efficiencies and recycling of waste heat. One of the potential candidates for fulfilling these requirements is thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices. TPV devices generate electricity from either the complete combustion of different fuels or the waste heat of other energy sources, thereby saving energy. The thermal radiation from the emitter is incident on a TPV cell, which generates electrical currents. Applications of such devices range from hybrid electric vehicles to power sources for microelectronic systems. Absence of any moving parts and versatile fuel usage has made TPV devices very appealing for military and space applications. However, the presently available TPV systems suffer from low conversion efficiency. A viable solution to increase their efficiency is to apply microscale radiation principles in the design of different components to utilize the characteristics of thermal radiation at small distances and in microstructures. In order to have a clear understanding of microscale radiation and its role in TPV devices, several critical issues are reviewed in the present work. Emphasis is given to the development of wavelength-selective emitters and filters and the aspects of microscale heat transfer as applied to TPV systems. Recent progress, along with challenges and opportunities for future development of TPV systems are also outlined.

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“…Until about 2013, the reported experimental system efficiencies, in which the input power has been directly measured, were around 1% (16)(17)(18)(22)(23)(24). Then, beginning with 2015, system_exp exceeding 5% started to appear in the literature (19)(20)(21) Si-MIM structure on a tungsten substrate for the emitter (26).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Until about 2013, the reported experimental system efficiencies, in which the input power has been directly measured, were around 1%. − ,− Then, beginning with 2015, η system‑exp exceeding 5% started to appear in the literature. − For example, Kohiyama et al have reported 5.1% for η system‑exp by employing a ∼1650 K hot Mo-MIM structure for the emitter and a GaSb PV cell with a λ Eg of 1.85 μm . Biermann et al have reported η system‑exp = 6.8% by employing a ∼1300 K hot Si-MIM structure on a tungsten substrate for the emitter and a InGaAsSb PV cell with a λ Eg of 2.2 μm .…”

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confidence: 99%

High-Efficiency Thermophotovoltaic System That Employs an Emitter Based on a Silicon Rod-Type Photonic Crystal

et al. 2019

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Thermophotovoltaic systems in principle enable utilization of heat that is usually regarded as wasted energy. However, the wavelength selectivity of the thermal emitter required for high efficiencies is rather difficult to control with conventional designs.Here, we design a thermophotovoltaic system comprising silicon rods as thermal emitter with a relatively narrow emission spectrum and a photovoltaic cell with a band gap corresponding to 1.76 m, and verify efficient power generation. By accurately measuring the heat flux that enters the emitter, the emitter temperature, and the electrical output power of the photovoltaic cell, we find that the actual system efficiency (ratio of ingoing heat flux to output power) is 11.2% at an emitter temperature of 1338 K, and that the output power density footprint is 0.368 W/cm 2 . The obtained efficiency is relatively high, i.e., 1.65 times that of the previously reported record value (6.8%).Further efficiency improvements in the future may lead to development of distributed energy supplies using combustion heat.

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Evaluation of thermophotovoltaic conversion efficiency

Cited by 17 publications

References 6 publications

Effective-medium model of wire metamaterials in the problems of radiative heat transfer

Effective-medium model of wire metamaterials in the problems of radiative heat transfer

Microscale radiation in thermophotovoltaic devices—A review

High-Efficiency Thermophotovoltaic System That Employs an Emitter Based on a Silicon Rod-Type Photonic Crystal

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