Comprehensive energy balance analysis of photon-enhanced thermionic power generation considering concentrated solar absorption distribution

Elahi, A. N. M. Taufiq; Jensen, Devon; Ghashami, Mohammad; Park, Keunhan

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111067

Title: Comprehensive energy balance analysis of photon-enhanced thermionic power generation considering concentrated solar absorption distribution

Journal Article · Tue Mar 30 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111067· OSTI ID:1814877

^[1]; Jensen, Devon ^[2]; Ghashami, Mohammad ^[3]; Park, Keunhan ^[1]

Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc., Lancaster, PA (United States)
Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)

The present article reports a comprehensive energy balance analysis of a photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) device when it is used for concentrated solar power (CSP) generation. To this end, we consider a realistic PETE device composed of a boron-doped silicon emitter on glass and a phosphorus-doped diamond collector on tungsten separated by the interelectrode vacuum gap. Here, depth-dependent spectral solar absorption and its photovoltaic and photothermal energy conversion processes are rigorously calculated to predict the PETE power output and energy conversion efficiency. Our calculation predicts that when optimized, the power output of the considered PETE device can reach 1.6 W/cm² with the energy conversion efficiency of ~ 18% for 100× solar concentration, which is substantially lower than those predicted in previous works under ideal conditions. In addition, the photon-enhancement ratio is lower than 10 and decreases with the increasing solar concentration due to the photothermal heating of the emitter assembly, suggesting that PETE should be more suitable for lowto- medium CSP below ~ 100× concentration. These observations signify the importance of a rigorous energy balance analysis based on spectral and spatial solar absorption distribution for the accurate prediction of PETE power generation.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office; National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0008531; ECCS 1611320

OSTI ID:: 1814877

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1815074

Report Number(s):: DOE-UTAH-8531-2

Journal Information:: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 226; ISSN 0927-0248

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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14 SOLAR ENERGY
Photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE)
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Thermionic energy conversion (TEC)
Energy balance analysis

Title: Comprehensive energy balance analysis of photon-enhanced thermionic power generation considering concentrated solar absorption distribution

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