Performance of Multilayered Thermophotovoltaic Elements at Moderate Temperature

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2001

Publication Title

Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer

Volume

15

Issue

4

First page number:

458

Last page number:

462

Abstract

An analysis of stacked thermophotovoltaic elements at moderate temperature is reported. The motivation is for application to microsystems. Various numbers of layers are considered, with a variety of temperatures (varying from 560 to 360 K) on the higher-temperature end. At the lower-temperature end, the temperature is always held at 300 K. It is assumed that the photovoltaic (PV) material is thin, but the thickness is considered. The PV material investigated in an earlier single-layer study (In0.8Ga0.2As) is considered, as well as Hg0.8Cd0.2Te. The latter demonstrates absorption and PV conversion at longer wavelengths than the former. In all cases, the emitter surface of the TPV pair is taken to be black. It is shown that both the power output and the efficiency of the system increase with layering.

Keywords

Electric power production; Photovoltaic power systems; Solar thermal energy

Disciplines

Energy Systems | Mechanical Engineering | Oil, Gas, and Energy | Power and Energy | Sustainability

Language

English

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Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

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