Development of Front Surface, Spectral Control Filters with Greater Temperature Stability for Thermophotovoltaic Energy Conversion

Rahmlow, Thomas D.; DePoy, D.M.; Fourspring, Patrick M.; Ehsani, H.; Lazo-Wasem, Jeanne E.; Gratrix, Edward J.

doi:10.1063/1.2711720

Cited by 32 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Although low-energy photons will still be emitted in all cases, a 1D photonic crystal, known as a rugate filter, can be introduced to help alleviate this problem [27]. If it is tuned to strongly reflect photons at energies below the bandgap back to the emitter, in a process known as photon recycling, the parasitic thermal losses can be greatly reduced [28][29][30][31][32]. This effect could also be achieved by using a strong back reflector, which is found for example in world-record GaAs cells produced by Alta Devices [33].…”

Section: Overview Of Tpv Mechanism and Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospects for high-performance thermophotovoltaic conversion efficiencies exceeding the Shockley–Queisser limit

Zhou

Chen

Bermel

2015

Energy Conversion and Management

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Section: Overview Of Tpv Mechanism and Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospects for high-performance thermophotovoltaic conversion efficiencies exceeding the Shockley–Queisser limit

Zhou

Chen

Bermel

2015

Energy Conversion and Management

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“…A balance must be struck to minimize above band gap photon absorption and maximize the sub‐band gap reflection. Plasma filters can also be combined with interference filters to improve the cutoff sharpness, as well as extend the transmission window into longer wavelengths .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selective emitters for thermophotovoltaic applications

Pfiester¹,

Vandervelde

2016

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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Applying thermophotovoltaic (TPV) technologies to existing energy generators allows us to increase energy output while utilizing present infrastructure by reclaiming the heat lost during the production process. In order to maximize the efficiency of these sources, the conversion efficiency of the TPV system needs to be optimized. Selective emitters are often used to tailor the spectrum of incident light on the diode, blocking any undesirable light that may lead to device heating or recombination. Over the years, many different technologies have been researched to create an ideal selective emitter. Plasmas and rare‐earth emitters provided highly selective spectra early on, but their fixed peaks required tailoring the diode's band gap to the emitter's characteristic wavelength. Recent advances in engineerable materials, such as photonic crystals and metamaterials, allow the opposite to take place; an appropriate selective emitter can be designed to match the TPV diode, allowing the diode structure to be optimized independently from the emitter.

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“…A cold side filter, implemented as a tandem plasma and interference filter between the emitter and cell, transmits some wavelengths to the cell and reflects others back to the emitter [10]. Cold side filters require a low-loss emitterfilter-cell optical cavity which is difficult to achieve in a practical microgenerator.…”

Section: Photonic Crystal Emittermentioning

confidence: 99%

A Thermophotovoltaic System Using a Photonic Crystal Emitter

Chan

Stelmakh

Soljačić

et al. 2016

Volume 1: Micro/Nanofluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip; Nanofluids; Micro/Nanoscale Interfacial Transport Phenomena; Micro/Nanoscale Bo

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The increasing power demands of portable electronics and micro robotics has driven recent interest in millimeter-scale microgenerators. Many technologies (fuel cells, Stirling, thermoelectric, etc.) that potentially enable a portable hydrocarbon microgenerator are under active investigation. Hydrocarbon fuels have specific energies fifty times those of batteries, thus even a relatively inefficient generator can exceed the specific energy of batteries. We proposed, designed, and demonstrated a first-ofa-kind millimeter-scale thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system with a photonic crystal emitter. In a TPV system, combustion heats an emitter to incandescence and the resulting thermal radiation is converted to electricity by photovoltaic cells. Our approach uses a moderate temperature (1000-1200 • C) metallic microburner coupled to a high emissivity, high selectivity photonic crystal selective emitter and low bandgap PV cells. This approach is predicted to be capable of up to 30% efficient fuel-to-electricity conversion within a millimeter-scale form factor. We have performed a robust experimental demonstration that validates the theoretical framework and the key system components, and present our results in the context of a TPV microgenerator. Although considerable technological barriers need to be overcome to realize a TPV microgenerator, we predict that 700-900 Wh/kg is possible with the current technology.

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Development of Front Surface, Spectral Control Filters with Greater Temperature Stability for Thermophotovoltaic Energy Conversion

Cited by 32 publications

References 7 publications

Prospects for high-performance thermophotovoltaic conversion efficiencies exceeding the Shockley–Queisser limit

Prospects for high-performance thermophotovoltaic conversion efficiencies exceeding the Shockley–Queisser limit

Selective emitters for thermophotovoltaic applications

A Thermophotovoltaic System Using a Photonic Crystal Emitter

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