Near-perfect photon utilization in an air-bridge thermophotovoltaic cell

Fan, Dejiu; Burger, Tobias; McSherry, Sean; Lee, Byungjun; Lenert, Andrej; Forrest, Stephen R.

doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2717-7

Cited by 145 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…5-7 represent a microscopic insight into one of today's most important renewable-energy technologies, which can only be obtained at this level of detail with accurate selfconsistent electro-optical models applicable for unevenly excited structures. While these effects do not crucially alter the macroscopic performance of the device studied here, they are expected to be pivotal in selected emerging devices where optical-energy transport primarily takes place, e.g., within cavities or through near fields [27][28][29].…”

Section: Final Remarks On the Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Interplay of Photons and Charge Carriers in Thin-Film Devices

et al. 2021

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Thin films are gaining ground in photonics and optoelectronics because of promising improvements in their efficiency and functionality, as well as decreased material usage compared with bulk technologies. However, the proliferation of thin films would benefit not only from continuous improvements in their fabrication, but also from a unified and accurate theoretical framework of the interplay of photons and charge carriers. In particular, such a framework would need to account quantitatively and self-consistently for photon recycling and interference effects. To this end, here, we combine the drift-diffusion formalism of charge-carrier dynamics and the fluctuational electrodynamics of photon transport self-consistently using the recently introduced interference-extended radiative-transfer equations. The resulting equation system can be solved numerically using standard simulation tools and, as an example, here, we apply it to study well-known GaAs thin-film solar cells. In addition to obtaining the expected device characteristics, we analyze the underlying complex photon-transport and recombination-generation processes, demonstrating the physical insight provided for unevenly excited structures through the direct and self-consistent description of photons and charge carriers. The methodology proposed here is general and can be used to obtain an accurate physical insight into a wide range of planar optoelectronic devices, of which the thin-film single-junction solar cells studied here are only one example.

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Section: Final Remarks On the Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Interplay of Photons and Charge Carriers in Thin-Film Devices

et al. 2021

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“…The implementation of BSRs in single‐junction and multi‐junction PV cells has been studied for solar and thermophotovoltaic applications [29, 39–41]. However, to the best of our knowledge, these reflectors have not been implemented in multi‐junction PPCs based on one absorber material yet.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental coupling process efficiency and benefits of back surface reflectors in photovoltaic multi‐junction photonic power converters

López

Höhn

Schauerte

et al. 2021

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Current matching is crucial to maximize the efficiency of two‐terminal multi‐junction photovoltaic devices. However, even in perfectly designed devices, deviation from the target operating temperature and consequent changes in the subcell absorptances causes current mismatch between the subcell currents even at constant spectral conditions. Fortunately, luminescence coupling from current‐overproducing subcells to current limiting subcells mitigates this effect. In this work, the coupling process efficiency in three‐junction photonic power converters based on GaAs/AlGaAs rear hetero‐junction subcells is experimentally quantified. A coupling process efficiency of 32% ± 9% from top and middle subcells to the limiting bottom subcell is found. Under constant monochromatic illumination, the observed coupling reduces the current mismatch, induced by raising the temperature from current matched conditions at 25°C to 70°C, from 4.4% to 1.6%. Furthermore, in this work, three‐junction photonic power converters with back surface reflectors are implemented. Those reflectors improve the device response at elevated temperatures by increasing the optical path length in the limiting subcell. It is shown experimentally how a back reflector effectively redirects photons that are emitted by the bottom subcell towards the upper subcells to reinforce luminescence coupling.

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“…Furthermore, as illustrated in Figure 3, InGaAs (0.74 eV) and GaSb TPV cells recorded the highest cell efficiencies, which demonstrates the maturity of these structures. Record TPV cell efficiencies for various materials Ge [196], GaSb [3,131,134], InAs [204], InGaAs [52,103,159,163,185,186], InAsSb [205], InGaSb [200], InGaAsSb [63,198,199] and cascade InAs/GaSb/AlSb [201].…”

Section: Narrow Bandgap Materials For Tpvmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Results show a 3–5% improvement when the light trapping is implemented. Recently, Burger et al [ 185 ] suggested the potential for a dramatic increase in conversion efficiency through improved spectral selectivity and recycling of longer IR, combined with the potential for reduced module costs through wafer reuse using thin-film TPV. The air-bridge InGaAs thin-film device with gold rear mirror reflector was investigated to realize highly selective absorption of above-bandgap radiations, enabling more efficient photon recycle and improving the TPV performance.…”

Section: Ingaas-based Tpv Cellmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

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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Near-perfect photon utilization in an air-bridge thermophotovoltaic cell

Cited by 145 publications

References 41 publications

Interplay of Photons and Charge Carriers in Thin-Film Devices

Interplay of Photons and Charge Carriers in Thin-Film Devices

Experimental coupling process efficiency and benefits of back surface reflectors in photovoltaic multi‐junction photonic power converters

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

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