Optical coatings for thermophotovoltaic spectral control

Numerical analysis of the short-circuit current density in GaInAsSb thermophotovoltaic diodes

“…The incident radiation photons are from the front P-side. The optimum temperature of the radiator for this TPV diode is T rad = 950°C based on other's works [4,7]. The minority carrier mobilities of P-type and N-type Ga 0.8 In 0.2 As 0.…”

“…The value of e eff (k) is taken as 0.78 based on the best reported spectral control system performance for GaInAsSb-based TPV system [5,7]. With the fixed F(k) by the above model, the short-circuit current density of a 0.5 eV Ga 0.8 In 0.2 As 0.18 Sb 0.82 -based TPV diode (device structure as seen in Fig.…”

“…The short-circuit current density (J sc ) is one of the most important characteristics for determining the output power density (P out ) and the energy conversion efficiency (g dio ) of a TPV diode [5][6][7]. J sc is primarily dependent on the incident photon flux density (F(k)) and the internal spectral response (SR Int (k)) of the PV diode [6].…”

“…Therefore, a numerical analysis on J sc of a Ga x In 1Àx As 1Ày Sb y -based TPV diode is presented in this paper. For a TPV system with a fixed radiator temperature, F(k) is determined by the performances of the spectral control system [5,7]. The internal spectral response (SR Int (k)), therefore J sc , is affected by the TPV diode parameters such as the absorption coefficient (a), minority carrier mobility and recombination lifetime, surface or interface recombination velocities (S) and thickness (d) of the absorption layer and the reflectance of back surface reflector (BSR).…”

Energy Conversion from Thermal Energy to Spectral-Controlled Radiation for Thermophotovoltaics using Porous Quartz Glass Media

“…As a result, various spectral control methods for selective emitters that exhibit high spectral emittance in a relatively narrow wavelength region matched with the bandgap and optical filters have been proposed to improve the spectral efficiency, and high spectral performance has been reported by many researchers. (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11) On the other hand, the TPV cell efficiency itself has become higher, up to 25-30%. (12)(13)(14)(15) However, the total efficiency of actual TPV systems that employ fossil fuel combustion has been reported to be only a few percent to date.…”