Related papers: Optimized Nanogap Thermophotovoltaic Devices for W…
It is well known that performance of a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) device can be enhanced if the vacuum gap between the thermal emitter and the TPV cell becomes nanoscale due to the photon tunneling of evanescent waves. Having multiple…
We theoretically show that a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system enhanced by a wire metamaterial opens the door to a prospective microgap thermophotovoltaics which will combine high electric output with relatively low temperatures of the…
Recently, near-field radiative heat transfer enhancement across nanometer vacuum gaps has been intensively studied between two hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) due to unlimited wavevectors and high photonic density of state. In this work, we…
We report the fabrication and measurement of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells with efficiencies of >40%, which is a record high TPV efficiency and the first experimental demonstration of the efficiency of high-bandgap tandem TPV cells. TPV…
An indium arsenide photovoltaic cell with gold front contacts is designed for use in a near-field thermophotovoltaic (NF-TPV) device consisting of millimeter-size surfaces separated by a nanosize vacuum gap. The device operates with a doped…
Solid-state heat-to-electrical power converters are thermodynamic engines that use fundamental particles, such as electrons or photons, as working fluids. Virtually all commercially available devices are thermoelectric generators, in which…
Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells are increasingly attractive for applications in industrial waste heat harvesting, aerospace energy management, and compact power generation. Deploying midwave-infrared (MWIR) TPV in practical applications…
Near-field thermophotovoltaics (NFTPV) systems have significant potential for waste heat recovery applications, with both high theoretical efficiency and power density, up to 40% and $11 \ \mathrm{W/cm^{2}}$ at 900 K. Yet experimental…
The impacts of radiative, electrical and thermal losses on the power output enhancement of nanoscale-gap thermophotovoltaic (nano-TPV) power generators consisting of a gallium antimonide cell paired with a broadband tungsten and a…
Heat is an inevitable outcome in energy consumption processes, as more than 65% of input energy is wasted as heat. If we can generate electricity from waste heat, it will help minimize the needs for fossil fuels in power plants and can…
This work investigates an alternative to thermophotovoltaics for harvesting thermal and optical energy via photon coupling and thermionic energy conversion. In this device, a heat source is radiatively coupled to a thermionic electron…
Thermophotovoltaics (TPVs) have the potential to exhibit higher power conversion efficiencies than traditional photovoltaics (PVs), with a broad range of applicability from waste recovery systems to aerospace solutions. They operate by…
We evaluate near-field thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion systems focusing in particular on their open-circuit voltage (Voc). Unlike previous analyses based largely on numerical simulations with fluctuational electrodynamics, here,…
Near-field thermal radiation transfer overcoming the far-field blackbody limit has attracted significant attention in recent years owing to its potential for drastically increasing the output power and conversion efficiency of…
We report the first empirical efficiency measurement of germanium-based thermophotovoltaic devices under high-temperature, high-irradiance conditions using a high view-factor calorimetric setup. Two TPV cell architectures were fabricated on…
We investigate the performance of thermoradiative (TR) cells using the III-V group of semiconductors, which include GaAs, GaSb, InAs, and InP, with the aim of determining their efficiency and finding the best TR cell materials among the…
We introduce new micron-gap thermophotovoltaic systems enhanced by tungsten nanowires. We theoretically show that these systems allow the frequency-selective super-Planckian spectrum of radiative heat transfer that promises a very efficient…
The conventional notion for achieving high efficiency in thermophotovoltaics (TPVs) is to use a monochromatic emission at a photon energy corresponding to the band gap of the cell. Here, we prove theoretically that such a notion is only…
Optimal radiator thermal emission spectra maximizing thermophotovoltaic (TPV) conversion efficiency and output power density are determined when temperature effects in the cell are considered. To do this, a framework is designed in which a…
Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) converters are capable of generating electrical energy from infrared radiation emitted by an emitter powered by waste heat or solar energy. Key performance metrics for TPV converters are power output density (POD),…