Radioisotope thermophotovoltaic system design and its application to an illustrative space mission

Schock, Alfred; Kumar, V.

doi:10.1063/1.47037

Cited by 21 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…We predict that further improvements in reflectivity, series resistance, material quality, and the radiation chamber geometry will push system efficiency to >50%. Such a highly efficient thermophotovoltaic system can have significant impact as a power source for hybrid cars (32), unmanned vehicles (33), deep-space probes (34–36), and energy storage (37, 38), as well as enabling efficient cogeneration systems (39–41) for heat and electricity.…”

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confidence: 99%

Ultraefficient thermophotovoltaic power conversion by band-edge spectral filtering

Omair

Scranton

Pazos-Outón

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

178

131

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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.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultraefficient thermophotovoltaic power conversion by band-edge spectral filtering

Omair

Scranton

Pazos-Outón

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

178

131

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“…The emitted heat flux in the wavelength interval A to A + dX fi-om a black body at absolute temperature T is given by q{X)dX= ^^h^Y"^^ (1) Qx^{hcl AkT)-\,…”

Section: Analysis Thermal and Electrical Analysis Of Tpv Convertermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This paper describes the analysis which led to the optimized RTPV design described in the preceding paper [1] and depicted in Figure 1. It summarizes the thermal and electrical analyses of the TPV converter, the static and dynamic structural analyses of the long radiator fins, and the parametric analysis and optimization of the RTPV system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis, optimization, and assessment of radioisotope thermophotovoltaic system design for an illustrative space mission

Schock¹,

Mukunda²,

Or³

et al. 1995

AIP Conference Proceedings

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A companion paper presented at this conference described the design of a Radioisotope Thermophotovoltaic (RTPV) Generator for an illustrative space mission (Pluto Fast Flyby). It presented a detailed design of an integrated system consisting of a radioisotope heat source, a thermophotovoltaic converter, and an optimized heat rejection system. The present paper describes the thermal, electrical, and structural analyses which led to that optimized design, and compares the computed RTPV performance to that of a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) designed for the same mission. I RTPVs are of course much less mature than RTGs, but our results indicate thatwhen fully developed-they could result in a 60% reduction of the heat source's mass, cost, and fuel loading, a 50% reduction of generator mass, a tripling of the power system's specific power, and a quadrupling of its efficiency. The paper concludes by briefly summarizing the RTPVs current technology status and assessing its potential applicability for the PFF mission. For other power systems (e.g. RTGs), demonstrating their flight readiness for a long mission is a very timeconsuming process to determine the long-term effect of temperature-induced degradation mechanisms. But for the case of the described RTPV design, the paper lists a number of factors, primarily its cold (0 to 10°C) converter temperature, that may greatly reduce the need for long-term tests to demonstrate generator lifetime. In any event, our analytical results suggest that the RTPV generator, when developed by DOE and/or NASA, would be quite valuable not only for the Pluto mission but also for other future missions requiring small, long-lived, low-mass generators.

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“…In one of the most promising of these, the radioisotope thermophotovoltaic (TPV) generator, electrical genergy is generated by photovoltaic (PV) conversion of photons emitted from a radioisotope-heated source (Morgan 1993). Schock, et al have reported a design of a radioisotope-powered TPV power generator in which the heat source mass, cost, and fuel loading are reduced 60%, resulting in a 50% reduction in overall generator mass, and a tripling of the generator's specific power per unit mass over that achieved by conventional thermoelectric generators (Schock 1994). The thermal generator designated to be used with this TPV power source is the Department of Energy's space-qualified General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) (Schock 1980).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

A new GaInAsSb-based photovoltaic cell for use with sources at

Evans¹,

Sundaram²,

Morgan³

et al. 1997

Space Technology and Applications International Forum (STAIF - 97)

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Characteristics of photovoltaic cells fabricated from diffused homojunctions in quaternary GalnAsSb are reported for the first time. The unique feature of these quaternary cells is the extended long-wavelength response to 2.2 mircons, enabling the efficient use of blackbody-like thermal sources operating as low as 1073 K in thermophotovoltaic energy conversion systems. Cells were based on a simple structure, and cell fabrication employed low-cost, high-yield, mature microelectronics processes. Specifically, Ga.88In.12As" 11 Sb.89 was grown by liquid-phase-epitaxy lattice matched to n-type GaSb substrates. The junction was formed by zinc doping in a quasi-closed-box diffusion furnace. Silicon nitride served as the anti-reflection coating, and electron-beam deposited metal contacts provided low resistance. Other salient features of these ceils include an internal quantum efficiency exceeding 75% at 299 K, and Voc --0.26 V, a fill factor of 0.55, and an Isc of 1.2 A/cm2, all at 288 K, excellent for a quaternary material whose optical characterization showed a bandgap of 0.58 eV. Process improvement can increase this fill factor to 0.75, as has been previously demonstrated with binary GaSb cells fabricated with similar processes.

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Radioisotope thermophotovoltaic system design and its application to an illustrative space mission

Cited by 21 publications

References 7 publications

Ultraefficient thermophotovoltaic power conversion by band-edge spectral filtering

Ultraefficient thermophotovoltaic power conversion by band-edge spectral filtering

Analysis, optimization, and assessment of radioisotope thermophotovoltaic system design for an illustrative space mission

A new GaInAsSb-based photovoltaic cell for use with sources at

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