A Computational Simulation of Using Tungsten Gratings in Near-Field Thermophotovoltaic Devices

Watjen, Jesse I.; Liu, Xianglei; Zhao, Bo; Zhang, Zhuomin

doi:10.1115/1.4035356

Title: A Computational Simulation of Using Tungsten Gratings in Near-Field Thermophotovoltaic Devices

Journal Article · Tue Feb 14 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Journal of Heat Transfer

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4035356· OSTI ID:1594750

Watjen, Jesse I. ^[1]; Liu, Xianglei ^[2]; Zhao, Bo ^[1]; Zhang, Zhuomin ^[1]

Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Nanjing Univ. of Aeronautics and Astronautics (China)

Near-field thermophotovoltaic (NFTPV) devices have received much attention lately as an alternative energy harvesting system, whereby a heated emitter exchanges super-Planckian thermal radiation with a photovoltaic (PV) cell to generate electricity. This work describes the use of a grating structure to enhance the power throughput of NFTPV devices, while increasing the energy conversion efficiency by ensuring that a large portion of the radiation entering the PV cell is above the band gap. The device contains a high-temperature tungsten grating that radiates photons to a room-temperature In_0.18Ga_0.82Sb PV cell through a vacuum gap of several tens of nanometers. Scattering theory is used along with the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) to calculate the radiation energy exchange between the grating emitter and the TPV cell. A parametric study is performed by varying the grating depth, period, and ridge width in the range that can be fabricated using available fabrication technologies. It is found that the power output can be increased by 40% while improving the efficiency from 29.9% to 32.0% with a selected grating emitter as compared to the case of a flat tungsten emitter. Reasons for the enhancement are found to be due to the enhanced energy transmission coefficient close to the band gap. Furthermore, this work shows a possible way of improving NFTPV and sheds light on how grating structures interact with thermal radiation at the nanoscale.

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Research Organization:: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0018369; FG02-06ER46343

OSTI ID:: 1594750

Journal Information:: Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol. 139, Issue 5; ISSN 0022-1481

Publisher:: ASMECopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 22 works

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Title: A Computational Simulation of Using Tungsten Gratings in Near-Field Thermophotovoltaic Devices

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