Novel hybrid III:V concentrator photovoltaic-thermoelectric receiver designs

Abstract

Abstract. This paper presents the design, manufacture and electrical characterization of novel hybrid III:V Concentrator Photovoltaic-Thermoelectric receivers. Addition of an encapsulating and spectral homogenizing single active surface secondary optic lens increased the solar cell electrical power output from 7.66mW (ALPHA no cooling) to 18.20mW (KAPPA with TE cooling). The effective optical concentration of the optics, based on short circuit current, was x2.4. A linear irradiance vs maximum power receiver output relationship was observed (R 2 =0.9978), confirming good optical alignment during manufacture and likewise internal current matching of the series-connected triple-junction cell. An indepth COMSOL model for simulated evaluation of the synergistic thermally-dependent parameters inherent to hybrid devices was built and experimentally validated.

Photovoltaic–thermoelectric temperature control using a closed‐loop integrated cooler

“…1, pp. [20][21][22][23][24] This is an open access article published by the IET under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) eliminate any shading or subtractive blocking effects for their output or generation. Spatial location of a thermocouple is paramount for measurement accuracy, and as described by Fourier's law of conduction a δT will be exhibited with non-zero distances.…”

“…Preliminary work has investigated these devices with photovoltaic technologies such as GaAs cells [12], organic-based solar cells [13,14], and monocrystalline silicon cells [15]. Likewise, theoretical and numerical simulations exist for multi-junction CPV-TE hybrids [16,17], but experimental realisations of these devices are scarce [18][19][20].…”