Design and global optimization of high-efficiency thermophotovoltaic systems
Author(s)
Bermel, Peter A.; Ghebrebrhan, Michael; Chan, Walker R.; Yeng, YiXiang; Araghchini, Mohammad; Hamam, Rafif E.; Marton, Christopher Henry; Jensen, Klavs F.; Soljacic, Marin; Joannopoulos, John D.; Johnson, Steven G.; Celanovic, Ivan; ... Show more Show less
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Despite their great promise, small experimental thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems at 1000 K generally exhibit extremely low power conversion efficiencies (approximately 1%), due to heat losses such as thermal emission of undesirable mid-wavelength infrared radiation. Photonic crystals (PhC) have the potential to strongly suppress such losses. However, PhC-based designs present a set of non-convex optimization problems requiring efficient objective function evaluation and global optimization algorithms. Both are applied to two example systems: improved micro-TPV generators and solar thermal TPV systems. Micro-TPV reactors experience up to a 27-fold increase in their efficiency and power output; solar thermal TPV systems see an even greater 45-fold increase in their efficiency (exceeding the Shockley–Quiesser limit for a single-junction photovoltaic cell).
Date issued
2010-08Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mathematics; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research Laboratory of ElectronicsJournal
Optics Express
Publisher
Optical Society of America
Citation
Peter Bermel, Michael Ghebrebrhan, Walker Chan, Yi Xiang Yeng, Mohammad Araghchini, Rafif Hamam, Christopher H. Marton, Klavs F. Jensen, Marin Soljačić, John D. Joannopoulos, Steven G. Johnson, and Ivan Celanovic, "Design and global optimization of high-efficiency thermophotovoltaic systems," Opt. Express 18, A314-A334 (2010) © 2010 Optical Society of America
Version: Final published version
ISSN
1094-4087