Related papers: Thermoelectric generators as self-oscillating heat…
A solar cell is a heat engine, but textbook treatments are not wholly satisfactory from a thermodynamic standpoint, since they present solar cells as directly converting the energy of light into electricity, and the current in the circuit…
Solar cells are engines converting energy supplied by the photon flux into work. All known types of macroscopic engines and turbines are also self-oscillating systems which yield a periodic motion at the expense of a usually non-periodic…
Studies of emerging photovoltaics, such as organic and perovskite solar cells, have recently shown that the separation of photo-generated charge carriers is correlated with non-thermal, coherent oscillations within the illuminated device.…
Several studies have combined heat and gravitational energy exchanges to create novel heat engines. A common theoretical framework is developed here to describe thermogravitational cycles which have the same efficiencies as the Carnot,…
Parabolic trough power plants transform solar radiative energy into thermal energy which is then typically used to produce electricity. We consider a model derived in \cite{BGSP} to describe parabolic trough power plants. In particular, the…
We introduce a new class of mesoscopic heat engines consisting of a tunnel junction coupled to a linear thermal bath. Work is produced by transporting electrons up against a voltage bias like in ordinary thermoelectrics but heat is…
The paper considers a model for the solar cell as a mechanical open-cycle thermodynamic engine where the chemical potential is produced in an isochoric process corresponding to the thermalization of electron-hole pairs. Expansion of the…
This paper shows a fundamental thermodynamic similarity between thermoelectric and photovoltaic energy converters which, at open circuit, can be represented as isochoric engines generating a finite chemical potential which appears as…
The electrostatic instabilities driven by the gradients of the density, temperature and magnetic field, are discussed in their application to solar magnetic structures. Strongly growing modes are found for some typical plasma parameters.…
Thermoelectric devices are heat engines, which operate as generators or refrigerators using the conduction electrons as a working fluid. The thermoelectric heat-to-work conversion efficiency has always been typically quite low, but much…
Thermoelectric effects, such as the generation of a particle current by a temperature gradient, have their origin in a reversible coupling between heat and particle flows. These effects are fundamental probes for materials and have…
A model of a conducting cylinder with a radial temperature gradient which creates an electric field that increases with time in the surrounding vacuum is examined. The conditions under which this model functions are pointed out. An electric…
Coupling between heat and electrical currents is at the heart of thermoelectric processes. From a thermal viewpoint this may be seen as an additional thermal flux linked to the appearance of electrical current in a given thermoelectric…
Transverse thermophotovoltaics has been conceptually proposed as a paradigm distinct from conventional junction-based photovoltaics, but has so far lacked a theoretical foundation. In this Letter, we establish a microscopic formalism of…
Thermoelectricity is traditionally explained via Onsager's irreversible, flux-force framework. The coupled flows of heat and electric charge are modelled as steady-state flows, driven by the thermodynamic forces defined in terms of the…
We present a mesoscopic model for thermoelectric phenomena in terms of an interacting particle system, a lattice electron gas dynamics that is a suitable extension of the standard simple exclusion process. We concentrate on electronic heat…
To take advantage of the distinctive nature of the lunar environment with respect to heat flow due to the low thermal conductivity of lunar soil and the moon's negligible atmosphere, thermoelectric generators have been identified as a…
One of the basic questions of solar research is the nature of the Sun. We show here how the plasma nature of the Sun leads to the self-generation of solar activity. The release of magnetic, rotational, gravitational, nuclear energies and…
Thermoelectric power generators are used to convert heat into electricity. Like any other heat engine, the performance of a thermoelectric generator increases as the temperature difference on the sides increases. It is generally assumed…
The flow of a thermoelectric current through a semiconductor of submicron dimensions is analyzed. The rate of surface relaxation of the energy is assumed to be much higher than the rate of electron-electron collisions. Under these…