Development of a portable thermophotovoltaic power generator
- Thermo Power Corporation, Tecogen Division, Waltham, Massachusetts 02254-9046 (United States)
A 150 Watt thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power generator is being developed. The technical approach taken in the design focused on optimizing the integrated performance of the primary subsystems in order to yield high energy conversion efficiency and cost effectiveness. An important aspect of the approach is the use of a selective emitter radiating to a bandgap matched photovoltaic array to minimize thermal and optical recuperation requirements, as well as the non-recoverable heat losses. For the initial prototype system, fibrous ytterbia emitters radiating in a band centered at 980 nm are matched with high efficiency silicon photoconverters. The integrated system includes a dielectric stack filter for optical energy recovery and a ceramic recuperator for thermal energy recovery. The system has been operated with air preheat temperatures up to 1350K. The design of the system and development status are presented. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 577777
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9705119--
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 401; ISSN 0094-243X; ISSN APCPCS
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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