TY - JOUR
T1 - Performance analysis of solar thermophotovoltaic conversion enhanced by selective metamaterial absorbers and emitters
AU - Wang, Hao
AU - Chang, Jui-Yung
AU - Yang, Yue
AU - Wang, Liping
PY - 2016/7/1
Y1 - 2016/7/1
N2 - By converting broadband sunlight into narrowband thermal radiation matched to the bandgap of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells, solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) systems could potentially reach a high conversion efficiency far exceeding the Shockley-Queisser limit. However, actual STPV systems exhibit much lower efficiency due to non-idealities in solar absorbers, thermal emitters and TPV cells. In this work, the STPV system with selective metamaterial solar absorber and emitter is investigated, whose conversion efficiency is between 8% and 10% with concentration factor varying between 20 and 200. This conversion efficiency is remarkably enhanced compared with the conversion efficiency of less than 2.5% for the STPV system employing black absorbers and emitters. The sidewall emission losses from the absorber-emitter module and the non-unity view factor between the thermal emitter and TPV cell will diminish the performance of the STPV system, whose effects are also quantitatively discussed in this work. Furthermore, the non-planar STPV systems with larger emitter-absorber area ratios are investigated, whose conversion efficiency can reach up to 12.6% under 200 suns when the emitter is four times as large as the absorber.
AB - By converting broadband sunlight into narrowband thermal radiation matched to the bandgap of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells, solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) systems could potentially reach a high conversion efficiency far exceeding the Shockley-Queisser limit. However, actual STPV systems exhibit much lower efficiency due to non-idealities in solar absorbers, thermal emitters and TPV cells. In this work, the STPV system with selective metamaterial solar absorber and emitter is investigated, whose conversion efficiency is between 8% and 10% with concentration factor varying between 20 and 200. This conversion efficiency is remarkably enhanced compared with the conversion efficiency of less than 2.5% for the STPV system employing black absorbers and emitters. The sidewall emission losses from the absorber-emitter module and the non-unity view factor between the thermal emitter and TPV cell will diminish the performance of the STPV system, whose effects are also quantitatively discussed in this work. Furthermore, the non-planar STPV systems with larger emitter-absorber area ratios are investigated, whose conversion efficiency can reach up to 12.6% under 200 suns when the emitter is four times as large as the absorber.
KW - Efficiency analysis
KW - Metamaterial
KW - Selective absorption and emission
KW - Solar energy
KW - Thermophotovoltaic
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84962355425&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2016.03.074
DO - 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2016.03.074
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84962355425
VL - 98
SP - 788
EP - 798
JO - International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
JF - International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
SN - 0017-9310
ER -