Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 116, Issue 31, Pages 15356-15361Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1903001116
Keywords
energy; photovoltaics; thermophotovoltaics; TPV; solar
Categories
Funding
- Department of Energy (DOE) Light-Material Interactions in Energy Conversion Energy Frontier Research Center [DE-SC0001293]
- DOE Photonics at Thermodynamic Limit Energy Frontier Research Center [DE-SC00019140]
- Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute Heising-Simons Junior Fellowship of the University of California, Berkeley
- Keck Foundation National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Grant
- Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC - US DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office [DE-AC36-08GO28308]
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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 degrees C.
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