TY - JOUR
T1 - Performance analysis of near-field thermophotovoltaic devices considering absorption distribution
AU - Park, K.
AU - Basu, S.
AU - King, W. P.
AU - Zhang, Z. M.
N1 - Funding Information:
K.P., S.B., and Z.M.Z. acknowledge the support of DoE under the Contract DE-FG02-06ER46343. W.P.K. acknowledges the support of NSF through Grant CTS-0327117.
PY - 2008/1
Y1 - 2008/1
N2 - This paper elucidates the energy transfer and conversion processes in near-field thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems, considering local radiation absorption and photocurrent generation in the TPV cell. Radiation heat transfer in a multilayered structure is modeled using the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, and the electric current generation is evaluated based on the photogeneration and recombination of electron-hole pairs in different regions of the TPV cell. The effects of near-field radiation on the photon penetration depth, photocurrent generation, and quantum efficiency are examined in the spectral region of interest. The detailed analysis performed in the present work demonstrates that, while the near-field operation can enhance the power throughput, the conversion efficiency is not much improved and may even be reduced. Subsequently, a modified design of near-field TPV systems is proposed to improve the efficiency.
AB - This paper elucidates the energy transfer and conversion processes in near-field thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems, considering local radiation absorption and photocurrent generation in the TPV cell. Radiation heat transfer in a multilayered structure is modeled using the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, and the electric current generation is evaluated based on the photogeneration and recombination of electron-hole pairs in different regions of the TPV cell. The effects of near-field radiation on the photon penetration depth, photocurrent generation, and quantum efficiency are examined in the spectral region of interest. The detailed analysis performed in the present work demonstrates that, while the near-field operation can enhance the power throughput, the conversion efficiency is not much improved and may even be reduced. Subsequently, a modified design of near-field TPV systems is proposed to improve the efficiency.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=35549004834&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=35549004834&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2007.08.022
DO - 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2007.08.022
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:35549004834
SN - 0022-4073
VL - 109
SP - 305
EP - 316
JO - Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer
JF - Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer
IS - 2
ER -