Ultraefficient thermophotovoltaic power conversion by band-edge spectral filtering

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1903001116
• Publication Date: 2019-07-16T22:15:24Z
• Authors: Zunaid Omair; Gregg Scranton; Luis M. Pazos-Outón; T. Patrick Xiao; Myles A. Steiner; Vidya Ganapati; Per F. Peterson; John Holzrichter; Harry Atwater; Eli Yablonovitch
• Keywords: Thermophotovoltaic; Thermal energy; Energy transformation

Thermophotovoltaic power conversion utilizes thermal radiation from a local heat source to generate electricity in photovoltaic cell. It was shown recent years that the addition of highly reflective rear mirror solar cell maximizes extraction luminescence. This, turn, boosts voltage, enabling creation record-breaking efficiency. Now we report can be used create thermophotovoltaic systems with unprecedented high This reflects low-energy infrared photons back into source, recovering their energy. Therefore, serves dual function; boosting voltage and reusing photons. allows possibility practical >50% efficient system. Based on this concept, efficiency 29.1 ± 0.4% at an emitter temperature 1,207 °C.