2026-09-22T02:17:00Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/938592022-01-13T07:54:05Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Evelyn N. Wang.
Bierman, David M. (David Matthew)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
2015-02-05T18:30:25Z
2015-02-05T18:30:25Z
2014
2014
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/93859
901524529
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2014.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 71-73).
To develop disruptive techniques which generate power from the Sun, one must understand the aspects of existing technologies that limit performance. Solar thermal and solar photovoltaic schemes dominate today's solar market but both bring intrinsic and practical constraints. What will tomorrow's solar market look like? Third generation solar power generation techniques to utilize a larger portion of the solar spectrum are a promising path for high efficiency power generation, but experimental demonstrations remain limited. In this work, the components of a solar thermophotovoltaic power converter are introduced and discussed. While solar thermophotovoltaic devices have the potential to convert sunlight into electricity at astronomically high efficiencies, there are a number of practical challenges that must first be addressed. Novel photonic materials, design concepts, and both intrinsic and practical limitations of solar thermophotovoltaic conversion are explored in this thesis. The conversion mechanisms as well as a number of experimental implementations are presented. Finally, the device performance is characterized and both geometrical and spectral improvements are discussed.
by David M. Bierman.
S.M.
73 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Mechanical Engineering.
Where solar thermal meets photovoltaic for high-efficiency power conversion
Thesis
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