Semitransparent thermophotovoltaics for efficient utilization of moderate temperature thermal radiation

Recent advances in thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power generation have produced notable gains in efficiency, particularly at very high emitter temperatures. However, there remains substantial room for improving TPV conversion of waste, solar, and nuclear heat streams at temperatures below 1,100°C. Here,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2022-11, Vol.119 (48), p.e2215977119-e2215977119
Main Authors: Lenert, Andrej, Burger, Tobias, Roy-Layinde, Bosun, Lentz, Rebecca, Berquist, Zachary J, Forrest, Stephen R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cold Temperature
Efficiency
Emitters
Heat transmission
Heterojunctions
Hot Temperature
Low temperature
Nuclear heat
Photonic band gaps
Photons
Physical Sciences
Radiation
Spectral control
Substrates
Temperature
Thermal radiation
Thermophotovoltaics
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Summary:Recent advances in thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power generation have produced notable gains in efficiency, particularly at very high emitter temperatures. However, there remains substantial room for improving TPV conversion of waste, solar, and nuclear heat streams at temperatures below 1,100°C. Here, we demonstrate the concept of transmissive spectral control that enables efficient recuperation of below-bandgap photons by allowing them to transmit through the cell to be absorbed by a secondary emitter. We fabricate a semitransparent TPV cell consisting of a thin InGaAs-InP heterojunction membrane supported by an infrared-transparent heat-conducting substrate. The device absorbs less than 1% of below-bandgap radiation, resulting in a TPV efficiency of 32.5% at an emitter temperature of 1,036°C. To our knowledge, this represents an 8% absolute improvement (~33% relative) in efficiency relative to the best TPV devices at such low temperatures. By enabling near-zero photon loss, the semitransparent architecture facilitates high TPV efficiencies over a wide range of applications.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.2215977119