Design Of High-efficiency Thermophotovoltaic System

As a new green energy technology, thermophotovoltaic(TPV) system has appealed more and more attention, because of its higher efficiency and output power density comparing to solar cells. With the rapid development of MEMS technology, TPV system will replace the traditional chemical cells and solar cells in the future. This paper gives an entirely mathematical abstraction of TPV system, establishes its solution model, and mainly discusses some ways to enhance the efficiency of TPV system.Firstly, a solution model of TPV system is proposed based on the basic heat radiative and transfer theory and near-field heat transfer theory. This new model gives a precise near-filed effect of TPV system, and offers the foundation to analyze and design high-efficiency TPV system.Secondly, the performance of TPV system with a spectral filter is discussed. A modified quarter-wave stack spectral filter is introduced, and an all-filed high efficiency TPV system is obtained by optimizing this spectral filter using Genetic algorithm.Thirdly, the performance of TPV system with a MIM(Meta-Insulator-Metal) narrow band thermal emitter is discussed. The relation between the emission properties of MIM emitter, the central wavelength and its emissivity, and the material and geometry parameters of MIM structure is particular analyzed.Lastly, the performance of TPV system with a perfect back reflector is discussed. The far-field limit and the performance with a zero vacuum gap distance of this ideal TPV system is analyzed, respectively. In the near-field, this ideal TPV system can get high efficiency and output power density, simultaneously. Besides, the laws obtained from this study will give some advices to enhance the performance of a TPV system in the future, just like the material selection of the emitter and the optimal vacuum distance for a TPV system.