Radiative thermoelectric energy converters, which include thermophotovoltaic cells, thermoradiative cells, electroluminescent refrigerators, and negative elec- troluminescent refrigerators, are semiconductor p-n devic...Radiative thermoelectric energy converters, which include thermophotovoltaic cells, thermoradiative cells, electroluminescent refrigerators, and negative elec- troluminescent refrigerators, are semiconductor p-n devices that either generate electricity or extract heat from a cold body while exchanging thermal radiation with their surroundings. If this exchange occurs at micro or nanoscale distances, power densities can be greatly enhanced and near-field radiation effects may improve performance. This review covers the fundamentals of near-field thermal radiation, photon entropy, and none- quilibrium effects in semiconductor diodes that underpin device operation. The development and state of the art of these near-field converters are discussed in detail, and remaining challenges and opportunities for progress are identified.展开更多
The burning of fossil fuels in industry results in significant carbon emissions,and the heat generated is often not fully utilized.For high-temperature industries,thermophotovoltaics(TPVs)is an effective method for wa...The burning of fossil fuels in industry results in significant carbon emissions,and the heat generated is often not fully utilized.For high-temperature industries,thermophotovoltaics(TPVs)is an effective method for waste heat recovery.This review covers two aspects of high-efficiency TPV systems and industrial waste heat applications.At the system level,representative results of TPV complete the systems,while selective emitters and photovoltaic cells in the last decade are compiled.The key points of components to improve the energy conversion efficiency are further analyzed,and the related micro/nano-fabrication methods are introduced.At the application level,the feasibility of TPV applications in high-temperature industries is shown from the world waste heat utilization situation.The potential of TPV in waste heat recovery and carbon neutrality is illustrated with the steel industry as an example.展开更多
Ultrathin cells have gained increasing attention due to their potential for reduced weight, reduced cost and increased flexibility. However, the light absorption in ultrathin cells is usually very weak compared to the...Ultrathin cells have gained increasing attention due to their potential for reduced weight, reduced cost and increased flexibility. However, the light absorption in ultrathin cells is usually very weak compared to the corresponding bulk cells. To achieve enhanced photon absorption in ultrathin thermophotovoltaic （TPV） cells, this work proposed a film-coupled metamaterial structure made of nanometer-thick gallium antimonide （GaSh） layer sandwiched by a top one-dimensional （1D） metallic grating and a bottom metal film. The spectral normal absorptance of the proposed structure was calculated using the rigorous coupled-wave algorithm （RCWA） and the absorption enhancement was elucidated to be attributed to the excitations of magnetic polariton （MP）, surface plasmon polariton （SPP）, and Fabry-Perot （FP） resonance. The mechanisms of MP, SPP, and FP were further confirmed by an inductor-capacitor circuit model, disper- sion relation, and phase shift, respectively. Effects of grating period, width, spacer thickness, as well as incidence angle were discussed. Moreover, short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, output electric power,and conversion efficiency were evaluated for the ultrathin GaSb TPV cell with a film-coupled metamaterial structure. This work will facilitate the development of next- generation low-cost ultrathin infrared TPV cells.展开更多
Single-junction,lattice-mismatched In0.69Ga0.31As thermophotovoltaic（TPV） devices each with a bandgap of 0.6 eV are grown on InP substrate by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition（MOCVD）.Compositionally undulat...Single-junction,lattice-mismatched In0.69Ga0.31As thermophotovoltaic（TPV） devices each with a bandgap of 0.6 eV are grown on InP substrate by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition（MOCVD）.Compositionally undulating stepgraded InAsyP1-y buffer layers with a lattice mismatch of ～1.2% are used to mitigate the effect of lattice mismatch between the device layers and the InP substrate.With an optimized buffer thickness,the In0.69Ga0.31As active layers grown on the buffer display a high crystal quality with no measurable tetragonal distortion.High-performance single-junction devices are demonstrated,with an open-circuit voltage of 0.215 V and a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 6.9% at a short-circuit current density of 47.6 mA/cm2,which are measured under the standard solar simulator of air mass 1.5-global（AM 1.5 G）.展开更多
A model for predicting the performance of the emitter in the solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) system is presented in this article. The effect of non-parallelism of sun rays on concentration capability is numerically ca...A model for predicting the performance of the emitter in the solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) system is presented in this article. The effect of non-parallelism of sun rays on concentration capability is numerically calculated,also the flow field in the emitter cavity and the temperature distribution of the emitter with different inlet conditions are compared. Numerical results show that free convection of the air inside the emitter cavity has great effect on the emitter temperature and may reduce the electricity output of the cells. At last,a new kind of selective film is put forward. Through optimizing the cut-off wavelength of a selective film,radiation loss is further reduced and system efficiency is improved.展开更多
Interband cascade(IC)photovoltaic(PV)device structures,consisting of multiple discrete InAs/GaSb superlattice absorbers sandwiched between electron and hole barriers,were grown by molecular beam epitaxy.Details of the...Interband cascade(IC)photovoltaic(PV)device structures,consisting of multiple discrete InAs/GaSb superlattice absorbers sandwiched between electron and hole barriers,were grown by molecular beam epitaxy.Details of the molecular beam epitaxy growth and material characterization of the structures are presented.The discrete absorber architecture enables certain advantages,such as high open-circuit voltage,high collection efficiency,high operating temperature,and smooth integration of cascade stages with different bandgaps.The two-and three-stage ICPV devices presented in this article operate at room temperature with substantial open-circuit voltages at a cutoff wavelength of 5.3 lm(corresponding to a bandgap of 0.23 eV),the longest ever reported for room temperature PV devices.The device characteristics indicate a high level of current matching and demonstrate the advantages of the interband cascade approach in thermophotovoltaic cell design.展开更多
The influence of the period of rotation on the effectiveness of the thermophotovoltaic （TPV） rotary regenerator was theoretically and experimentally investi- gated. It was found that the deviations of the theoretica...The influence of the period of rotation on the effectiveness of the thermophotovoltaic （TPV） rotary regenerator was theoretically and experimentally investi- gated. It was found that the deviations of the theoretical results from the experimental ones decrease with the increase of the period of rotation. To the TPV system of 10 kW combustion power, the deviation is 3.5% when the rotation period is 3 s; while the deviation decreases to 1.5% when the rotation period increases to 15 s. The deviation could be mainly attributed to the cold and hot fluids carryover loss which was not considered in the model. With a new model taking account of the carryover loss established, the predicted results were greatly improved. Based on the modified model, the influence of geometrical parameters of rotary regenerator on the effectiveness was analyzed for TPV systems of various combustion power. The results demonstrate that the effectiveness increases with the increase of the rotary regenerator diameter and height, while fluid carryover loss increases at the same time, which weakens the impact of geometrical parameters.展开更多
In this paper, a one-dimensional multilayer is optimized for potential applications as thermophotovoltaic (TPV) selective emitter. The proposed TPV emitter was fabricated through a magnetron sputtering process by usin...In this paper, a one-dimensional multilayer is optimized for potential applications as thermophotovoltaic (TPV) selective emitter. The proposed TPV emitter was fabricated through a magnetron sputtering process by using the radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system. The spectral emittance of the proposed TPV emitter is measured by using spectral transmittance and reflectance measurement system at wavelength from 0.3 μm to 2.5 μm at near-normal incident 8。. The bidirectional reflectance distribution function BRDF is measured by three axis automated scatterometer (TAAS). The effect of the diffraction orders and plane of incidence on the spectral emittance of the proposed TPV emitter is calculated numerically by using the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA). The emittance spectrum of the proposed TPV selective emitter shows three close to unity emission peaks which are explained by the surface plasmon polariton (SPP), gap plasmon polariton (GPP) and magnetic polariton (MP) excitation. The results show that the proposed emitter has high emittance value in the spectral range of 0.69 emitter, if used as a selective emitter with a low band gap photovoltaic cell (GaSb), would lead to high TPV overall efficiency and high electrical output power.展开更多
The experimental I- Vcharactefistics ofa Si cell module in a thermophotovoltaic （TPV） system were investigated using SiC or Yb203 radiator. The results demonstrate that the short-circuit current increases while the ...The experimental I- Vcharactefistics ofa Si cell module in a thermophotovoltaic （TPV） system were investigated using SiC or Yb203 radiator. The results demonstrate that the short-circuit current increases while the open-circuit voltage, along with the fill factor, decreases with the cell temperature when the radiator temperature increases from 1273 to 1573 K, leading to a suppressed increase of the output power of the system. The maximum output power density of the cell module is 0.05 W/cm2 when the temperature of the SiC radiator is 1573 K, while the electrical efficiency of the system is only 0.22%. The efficiency is 1.3% with a Yb203 radiator at the same temperature, however, the maximum output power density drops to 0.03 W/cm2. The values of the open-circuit voltage and the maximum output power obtained from the theoretical model conform to the experimental ones. But the theoretical short-circuit current is higher because of the existence of the contact resistance inside the cell module. In addition, the performance and cost of TPV cogeneration systems with the SiC or Yb203 radiator using industrial high-temperature waste heat were analyzed. The system electrical efficiency could reach 3.1% with a Yb203 radiator at 1573K. The system cost and investment recovery period are 6732 EUR/kWel and 14 years, respectively.展开更多
In this paper, numerical analysis of GaSb （Eg = 0.72 eV）/Gao.84Ino.16Aso.14Sbo.86 （Eg = 0.53 eV） tandem thermopho- tovoltaic （TPV） cells is carried out by using Silvaco/Atlas software. In the tandem cells, a GaS...In this paper, numerical analysis of GaSb （Eg = 0.72 eV）/Gao.84Ino.16Aso.14Sbo.86 （Eg = 0.53 eV） tandem thermopho- tovoltaic （TPV） cells is carried out by using Silvaco/Atlas software. In the tandem cells, a GaSb p-n homojunction is used for the top cell and a GalnAsSb p-n homojunction for the bottom cell. A heavily doped GaSb tunnel junction connects the two sub-cells together. The simulations are carried out at a radiator temperature of 2000 K and a cell temperature of 300 K. The radiation photons are injected from the top of the tandem cells. Key properties of the single- and dual-junction TPV cells, including I-V characteristic, maximum output power （Pmax）, open-circuit voltage （Voc）, short-circuit current （/~sc）, etc. are presented. The effects of the sub-cell thickness and carrier concentration on the key properties of tandem cells are investigated. A comparison of the dual-TPV cells with GaSb and GalnAsSb single junction cells shows that the Pmax of tandem cells is almost twice as great as that of the single-junction cells.展开更多
文摘Radiative thermoelectric energy converters, which include thermophotovoltaic cells, thermoradiative cells, electroluminescent refrigerators, and negative elec- troluminescent refrigerators, are semiconductor p-n devices that either generate electricity or extract heat from a cold body while exchanging thermal radiation with their surroundings. If this exchange occurs at micro or nanoscale distances, power densities can be greatly enhanced and near-field radiation effects may improve performance. This review covers the fundamentals of near-field thermal radiation, photon entropy, and none- quilibrium effects in semiconductor diodes that underpin device operation. The development and state of the art of these near-field converters are discussed in detail, and remaining challenges and opportunities for progress are identified.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.52227813)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(Nos.2023M740905,2023T160164)+3 种基金National Key ResearchDevelopment Program of China(No.2022YFE0210200)Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province(No.LH2023E043)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Nos.2022ZFJH04,HIT.OCEF.2021023)。
文摘The burning of fossil fuels in industry results in significant carbon emissions,and the heat generated is often not fully utilized.For high-temperature industries,thermophotovoltaics(TPVs)is an effective method for waste heat recovery.This review covers two aspects of high-efficiency TPV systems and industrial waste heat applications.At the system level,representative results of TPV complete the systems,while selective emitters and photovoltaic cells in the last decade are compiled.The key points of components to improve the energy conversion efficiency are further analyzed,and the related micro/nano-fabrication methods are introduced.At the application level,the feasibility of TPV applications in high-temperature industries is shown from the world waste heat utilization situation.The potential of TPV in waste heat recovery and carbon neutrality is illustrated with the steel industry as an example.
文摘Ultrathin cells have gained increasing attention due to their potential for reduced weight, reduced cost and increased flexibility. However, the light absorption in ultrathin cells is usually very weak compared to the corresponding bulk cells. To achieve enhanced photon absorption in ultrathin thermophotovoltaic （TPV） cells, this work proposed a film-coupled metamaterial structure made of nanometer-thick gallium antimonide （GaSh） layer sandwiched by a top one-dimensional （1D） metallic grating and a bottom metal film. The spectral normal absorptance of the proposed structure was calculated using the rigorous coupled-wave algorithm （RCWA） and the absorption enhancement was elucidated to be attributed to the excitations of magnetic polariton （MP）, surface plasmon polariton （SPP）, and Fabry-Perot （FP） resonance. The mechanisms of MP, SPP, and FP were further confirmed by an inductor-capacitor circuit model, disper- sion relation, and phase shift, respectively. Effects of grating period, width, spacer thickness, as well as incidence angle were discussed. Moreover, short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, output electric power,and conversion efficiency were evaluated for the ultrathin GaSb TPV cell with a film-coupled metamaterial structure. This work will facilitate the development of next- generation low-cost ultrathin infrared TPV cells.
基金Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 61176128)the Knowledge Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of SciencesSuzhou Municipal Solar Cell Research Project,China (Grant No. SYG201145)
文摘Single-junction,lattice-mismatched In0.69Ga0.31As thermophotovoltaic（TPV） devices each with a bandgap of 0.6 eV are grown on InP substrate by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition（MOCVD）.Compositionally undulating stepgraded InAsyP1-y buffer layers with a lattice mismatch of ～1.2% are used to mitigate the effect of lattice mismatch between the device layers and the InP substrate.With an optimized buffer thickness,the In0.69Ga0.31As active layers grown on the buffer display a high crystal quality with no measurable tetragonal distortion.High-performance single-junction devices are demonstrated,with an open-circuit voltage of 0.215 V and a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 6.9% at a short-circuit current density of 47.6 mA/cm2,which are measured under the standard solar simulator of air mass 1.5-global（AM 1.5 G）.
基金Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (Grant No. BK2007726)
文摘A model for predicting the performance of the emitter in the solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) system is presented in this article. The effect of non-parallelism of sun rays on concentration capability is numerically calculated,also the flow field in the emitter cavity and the temperature distribution of the emitter with different inlet conditions are compared. Numerical results show that free convection of the air inside the emitter cavity has great effect on the emitter temperature and may reduce the electricity output of the cells. At last,a new kind of selective film is put forward. Through optimizing the cut-off wavelength of a selective film,radiation loss is further reduced and system efficiency is improved.
基金supported in part by the DoE EPSCoR program(DESC0004523)C-SPIN,the Oklahoma/Arkansas MRSEC(DMR0520550)
文摘Interband cascade(IC)photovoltaic(PV)device structures,consisting of multiple discrete InAs/GaSb superlattice absorbers sandwiched between electron and hole barriers,were grown by molecular beam epitaxy.Details of the molecular beam epitaxy growth and material characterization of the structures are presented.The discrete absorber architecture enables certain advantages,such as high open-circuit voltage,high collection efficiency,high operating temperature,and smooth integration of cascade stages with different bandgaps.The two-and three-stage ICPV devices presented in this article operate at room temperature with substantial open-circuit voltages at a cutoff wavelength of 5.3 lm(corresponding to a bandgap of 0.23 eV),the longest ever reported for room temperature PV devices.The device characteristics indicate a high level of current matching and demonstrate the advantages of the interband cascade approach in thermophotovoltaic cell design.
文摘The influence of the period of rotation on the effectiveness of the thermophotovoltaic （TPV） rotary regenerator was theoretically and experimentally investi- gated. It was found that the deviations of the theoretical results from the experimental ones decrease with the increase of the period of rotation. To the TPV system of 10 kW combustion power, the deviation is 3.5% when the rotation period is 3 s; while the deviation decreases to 1.5% when the rotation period increases to 15 s. The deviation could be mainly attributed to the cold and hot fluids carryover loss which was not considered in the model. With a new model taking account of the carryover loss established, the predicted results were greatly improved. Based on the modified model, the influence of geometrical parameters of rotary regenerator on the effectiveness was analyzed for TPV systems of various combustion power. The results demonstrate that the effectiveness increases with the increase of the rotary regenerator diameter and height, while fluid carryover loss increases at the same time, which weakens the impact of geometrical parameters.
文摘In this paper, a one-dimensional multilayer is optimized for potential applications as thermophotovoltaic (TPV) selective emitter. The proposed TPV emitter was fabricated through a magnetron sputtering process by using the radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system. The spectral emittance of the proposed TPV emitter is measured by using spectral transmittance and reflectance measurement system at wavelength from 0.3 μm to 2.5 μm at near-normal incident 8。. The bidirectional reflectance distribution function BRDF is measured by three axis automated scatterometer (TAAS). The effect of the diffraction orders and plane of incidence on the spectral emittance of the proposed TPV emitter is calculated numerically by using the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA). The emittance spectrum of the proposed TPV selective emitter shows three close to unity emission peaks which are explained by the surface plasmon polariton (SPP), gap plasmon polariton (GPP) and magnetic polariton (MP) excitation. The results show that the proposed emitter has high emittance value in the spectral range of 0.69 emitter, if used as a selective emitter with a low band gap photovoltaic cell (GaSb), would lead to high TPV overall efficiency and high electrical output power.
文摘The experimental I- Vcharactefistics ofa Si cell module in a thermophotovoltaic （TPV） system were investigated using SiC or Yb203 radiator. The results demonstrate that the short-circuit current increases while the open-circuit voltage, along with the fill factor, decreases with the cell temperature when the radiator temperature increases from 1273 to 1573 K, leading to a suppressed increase of the output power of the system. The maximum output power density of the cell module is 0.05 W/cm2 when the temperature of the SiC radiator is 1573 K, while the electrical efficiency of the system is only 0.22%. The efficiency is 1.3% with a Yb203 radiator at the same temperature, however, the maximum output power density drops to 0.03 W/cm2. The values of the open-circuit voltage and the maximum output power obtained from the theoretical model conform to the experimental ones. But the theoretical short-circuit current is higher because of the existence of the contact resistance inside the cell module. In addition, the performance and cost of TPV cogeneration systems with the SiC or Yb203 radiator using industrial high-temperature waste heat were analyzed. The system electrical efficiency could reach 3.1% with a Yb203 radiator at 1573K. The system cost and investment recovery period are 6732 EUR/kWel and 14 years, respectively.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.61076010)the Project of State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics (Grant No.IOSKL2012ZZ13)
文摘In this paper, numerical analysis of GaSb （Eg = 0.72 eV）/Gao.84Ino.16Aso.14Sbo.86 （Eg = 0.53 eV） tandem thermopho- tovoltaic （TPV） cells is carried out by using Silvaco/Atlas software. In the tandem cells, a GaSb p-n homojunction is used for the top cell and a GalnAsSb p-n homojunction for the bottom cell. A heavily doped GaSb tunnel junction connects the two sub-cells together. The simulations are carried out at a radiator temperature of 2000 K and a cell temperature of 300 K. The radiation photons are injected from the top of the tandem cells. Key properties of the single- and dual-junction TPV cells, including I-V characteristic, maximum output power （Pmax）, open-circuit voltage （Voc）, short-circuit current （/~sc）, etc. are presented. The effects of the sub-cell thickness and carrier concentration on the key properties of tandem cells are investigated. A comparison of the dual-TPV cells with GaSb and GalnAsSb single junction cells shows that the Pmax of tandem cells is almost twice as great as that of the single-junction cells.
基金Supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(2011AA050513)National Basic Research Program of China(2012CB934201)
