Thermodynamics of Light Management in Near-Field Thermophotovoltaics

Papadakis, Georgia T.; Orenstein, Meir; Yablonovitch, Eli; Fan, Shanhui

doi:10.1103/physrevapplied.16.064063

Title: Thermodynamics of Light Management in Near-Field Thermophotovoltaics

Journal Article · 27 December 2021 · Physical Review Applied

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.16.064063 · OSTI ID:1979641

^[1]; Orenstein, Meir ^[2];

^[3]; Fan, Shanhui ^[4]

The Barcelona Inst. of Science and Technology, Castelldefels (Spain); Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Ginzton Lab.; OSTI
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa (Israel)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Ginzton Lab.

We evaluate near-field thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy-conversion systems focusing in particular on their open-circuit voltage (V_OC). Unlike previous analyses based largely on numerical simulations with fluctuational electrodynamics, here, we develop an analytic model that captures the physics of near-field TPV systems and can predict their performance metrics. Using our model, we identify two opportunities of TPV systems operating in the near field. First, we show analytically that enhancement of radiative recombination is a natural consequence of operating in the near field. Second, we note that, owing to photon recycling and minimal radiation leakage in near-field operation, the PV cell used in near-field TPV systems can be much thinner compared to those used in solar PV systems. Since nonradiative recombination is a volumetric effect, use of a thinner cell reduces nonradiative losses per unit area. The combination of these two opportunities leads to increasingly large values of V_OC as the TPV vacuum gap decreases. Hence, although operation in the near-field was previously perceived to be beneficial for electrical power-density enhancement, here, we emphasize that thin-film near-field TPVs are also significantly advantageous in terms of V_OC and consequently conversion efficiency as well as power density. We provide numerical results for an InAs-based thin-film TPV that exhibits efficiency >50% at an emitter temperature as low as 1100 K.

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Research Organization:: Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); US Army Research Office (ARO)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0019140

OSTI ID:: 1979641

Journal Information:: Physical Review Applied, Journal Name: Physical Review Applied Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 16; ISSN 2331-7019

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Thermodynamics of Light Management in Near-Field Thermophotovoltaics

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