Wavelength-selective thermal emitters based on micro-scaled photonic structures for thermophotovoltaic power generation

Kwong-Kit Choi; Varun Menon; Patrick Oduor; Achyut Dutta

doi:10.1117/12.2623775

22 June 2022 Wavelength-selective thermal emitters based on micro-scaled photonic structures for thermophotovoltaic power generation

Kwong-Kit Choi, Varun Menon, Patrick Oduor, Achyut Dutta

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume PC12090, Energy Harvesting and Storage: Materials, Devices, and Applications XII; PC1209004 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2623775
Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2022, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

We propose a wavelength-selective thermal emitter based on the resonator-pixel (RP) structure. This passive emitter is designed for thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power generation. It contains a thin SiC material etched into an array of micron-sized rings, and the etched surface is covered with a metal such as tantalum. The emissivity of the emitter is determined by equating it to the absorptivity, which is modeled by 3-dimensional electromagnetic modeling. The result shows that the RP emitter is able to increase the wavelength selectivity by 8 times relative to a bulk SiC emitter. Integrated with a resonant GaSb PV cell with enhanced absorption at the band edge, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) can be maintained constant at 80% between 600 and 1800°C while the power throughput increases by 1.72 times. We further modeled the far-field beam profile of the emitter and found the beamwidth to be less than 10° when the emitter area is larger than 10 × 10 μm². This highly collimated emission allows larger distance between the emitter and PV cell without reducing its PCE. The thermal management of the TPV system can thus be greatly improved. By modeling the emitter and PV cell together, we also found a near-field TPV effect, which increases the electrical power throughput by a factor of 2.

Citation Download Citation

Kwong-Kit Choi, Varun Menon, Patrick Oduor, and Achyut Dutta "Wavelength-selective thermal emitters based on micro-scaled photonic structures for thermophotovoltaic power generation", Proc. SPIE PC12090, Energy Harvesting and Storage: Materials, Devices, and Applications XII, PC1209004 (22 June 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2623775

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KEYWORDS

Photonic microstructures

Solar cells

Absorption

Gallium antimonide

Tantalum

Performance modeling

Photovoltaics

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