Ultraefficient Thermophotovoltaic Power Conversion By Band-Edge Spectral Filtering

Authors

Z. Omair
G. Scranton
L. M. Pazos-Outón
T. P. Xiao
M. A. Steiner
Vidya Ganapati, Swarthmore CollegeFollow
P. F. Peterson
J. Holzrichter
H. Atwater
E. Yablonovitch

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-30-2019

Published In

Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences

Abstract

Thermophotovoltaic power conversion utilizes thermal radiation from a local heat source to generate electricity in a photovoltaic cell. It was shown in recent years that the addition of a highly reflective rear mirror to a solar cell maximizes the extraction of luminescence. This, in turn, boosts the voltage, enabling the creation of record-breaking solar efficiency. Now we report that the rear mirror can be used to create thermophotovoltaic systems with unprecedented high thermophotovoltaic efficiency. This mirror reflects low-energy infrared photons back into the heat source, recovering their energy. Therefore, the rear mirror serves a dual function; boosting the voltage and reusing infrared thermal photons. This allows the possibility of a practical >50% efficient thermophotovoltaic system. Based on this reflective rear mirror concept, we report a thermophotovoltaic efficiency of 29.1 ± 0.4% at an emitter temperature of 1,207 °C.

Keywords

energy, photovoltaics, thermophotovoltaics, TPV, solar

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Comments

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Recommended Citation

Z. Omair, G. Scranton, L. M. Pazos-Outón, T. P. Xiao, M. A. Steiner, Vidya Ganapati, P. F. Peterson, J. Holzrichter, H. Atwater, and E. Yablonovitch. (2019). "Ultraefficient Thermophotovoltaic Power Conversion By Band-Edge Spectral Filtering". Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences. Volume 116, Issue 31. 15356-15361. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1903001116
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-engineering/137