volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

Using absorber-emitter modules, solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) systems could potentially break through the Shockley-Queisser limit. Efficient spectral selectivity and high temperature endurance are the keys to this technology. In this paper, a high-efficiency selective absorber-emitter module based on refractory material nanostructures is designed for solar thermophotovoltaic applications. Our numerical simulations show that the proposed absorber-emitter module could provide a specified narrowband emission spectrum above the bandgap with optimal bandwidth, and its performance is robust and independent of incident angle and polarization. According to detailed balance calculations, over a broad range of module temperatures, the solar cell efficiency of our design could suprass the Shockley-Queisser limit by 41%.

1. Shockley, W. and H. J. Queisser, "Detailed balance limit of efficiency of pn junction solar cells," Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 32, No. 3, 510-519, 1961.
doi:10.1063/1.1736034 Google Scholar

2. De Vos, A. and H. Pauwels, "On the thermodynamic limit of photovoltaic energy conversion," Applied Physics, Vol. 25, No. 2, 119-125, 1981.
doi:10.1007/BF00901283 Google Scholar

3. Wiemer, M., V. Sabnis, and H. Yuen, "43.5% efficient lattice matched solar cells," Proc. SPIE, Vol. 8108, No. 810804, 2011. Google Scholar

4. Swanson, R. M., "A proposed thermophotovoltaic solar energy conversion system," Proc. IEEE, Vol. 67, No. 3, 446-447, 1979.
doi:10.1109/PROC.1979.11270 Google Scholar

5. Ruppel, W. and P. Wurfel, "Upper limit for the conversion of solar energy," IEEE Trans. Electron. Dev., Vol. 27, No. 4, 877-882, 1980.
doi:10.1109/T-ED.1980.19950 Google Scholar

6. Spirkl, W. and H. Ries, "Solar thermophotovoltaics: An assessment," J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 57, No. 9, 4409-4414, 1985.
doi:10.1063/1.334602 Google Scholar

7. Landsberg, P. T. and P. Baruch, "The thermodynamics of the conversion of radiation energy for photovoltaics," J. Phys. Math. Gen., Vol. 22, No. 11, 1911-1926, 1989.
doi:10.1088/0305-4470/22/11/028 Google Scholar

8. Chaudhuri, T. K., "A solar thermophotovoltaic converter using Pbs photovoltaic cells," Int. J. Energy Res., Vol. 16, No. 6, 481-487, 1992.
doi:10.1002/er.4440160605 Google Scholar

9. Stone, K. W., N. S. Fatemi, and L. M. Garverick, "Operation and component testing of a solar thermophotovoltaic power system," Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1996, IEEE Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth, 1421-1424, 1996.
doi:10.1109/PVSC.1996.564401 Google Scholar

10. Badescu, V., "Thermodynamic theory of thermophotovoltaic solar energy conversion," J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 90, No. 12, 6476-6486, 2001.
doi:10.1063/1.1415756 Google Scholar

11. Tobias, I. and A. Luque, "Ideal efficiency and potential of solar thermophotonic converters under optically and thermally concentrated power flux," IEEE Trans. Electron. Dev., Vol. 49, No. 11, 2024-2030, 2002.
doi:10.1109/TED.2002.804731 Google Scholar

12. Harder, N. P. and P. Wurfel, "Theoretical limits of thermophotovoltaic solar energy conversion," Semicond. Sci. Technol., Vol. 18, No. 5, S151-S157, 2003.
doi:10.1088/0268-1242/18/5/303 Google Scholar

13. Badescu, V., "Upper bounds for solar thermophotovoltaic efficiency," Renew. Energy, Vol. 30, No. 2, 211-225, 2005.
doi:10.1016/j.renene.2004.04.012 Google Scholar

14. Andreev, V. M., V. P. Khvostikov, O. A. Khvostikova, A. S. Vlasov, P. Y. Gazaryan, N. A. Sadchikov, and V. D. Rumyantsev, "Solar thermophotovoltaic system with high temperature tungsten emitter," Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2005, IEEE Conference Record of the Thirty-first,, 671-674, 2005.
doi:10.1109/PVSC.2005.1488220 Google Scholar

15. Vlasov, A. S., V. P. Khvostikov, O. A. Khvostikova, P. Y. Gazaryan, S. V. Sorokina, and V. M. Andreev, "TPV systems with solar powered tungsten emitters," AIP Conf. Proc., Vol. 890, 327-334, 2007.
doi:10.1063/1.2711750 Google Scholar

16. Rephaeli, E. and S. Fan, "Tungsten black absorber for solar light with wide angular operation range," Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 92, No. 21, 211107, 2008.
doi:10.1063/1.2936997 Google Scholar

17. Rinnerbauer, V., Y. X. Yeng, W. R. Chan, J. J. Senkevich, J. D. Joannopoulos, M. Soljacic, and I. Celanovic, "High-temperature stability and selective thermal emission of polycrystalline tantalum photonic crystals," Optics Express, Vol. 21, No. 9, 11482, 2013.
doi:10.1364/OE.21.011482 Google Scholar

18. Celanovic, I., N. Jovanovic, and J. Kassakian, "Two-dimensional tungsten photonic crystals as selective thermal emitters," Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 92, No. 19, 193101, 2008.
doi:10.1063/1.2927484 Google Scholar

19. Yeng, Y. X., M. Ghebrebrhan, P. Bermel, and W. R. Chan, "Enabling high-temperature nanophotonics for energy applications," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, No. 7, 2280-2285, 2012.
doi:10.1073/pnas.1120149109 Google Scholar

20. Nam, Y., Y. X. Yeng, A. Lenert, P. Bermel, I. Celanovic, M. Soljacic, and E. N. Wang, "Solar thermophotovoltaic energy conversion systems with two-dimensional tantalum photonic crystal absorbers and emitters," Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 122, 287-296, 2014.
doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2013.12.012 Google Scholar

21. Rephaeli, E. and S. Fan, "Absorber and emitter for solar thermo-photovoltaic systems to achieve efficiency exceeding the Shockley-Queisser limit," Optics Express, Vol. 17, No. 17, 15145-15149, 2009.
doi:10.1364/OE.17.015145 Google Scholar

22. Sergeant, N. P., M. Agrawal, and P. Peumans, "High performance solar-selective absorbers using coated sub-wavelength gratings," Optics Express, Vol. 18, No. 6, 5525-5540, 2010.
doi:10.1364/OE.18.005525 Google Scholar

23. Lenert, A., D. M. Bierman, Y. Nam, W. R. Chan, I. Celanovi´c, M. Soljacic, and E. N. Wang, "A nanophotonic solar thermophotovoltaic device," Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 9, No. 2, 126-130, 2014.
doi:10.1038/nnano.2013.286 Google Scholar

24. Chou, J. B., Y. X. Yeng, A. Lenert, V. Rinnerbauer, I. Celanovic, M. Soljacic, E. N. Wang, and S. G. Kim, "Design of wide-angle selective absorbers/emitters with dielectric filled metallic photonic crystals for energy applications," Optics Express, Vol. 22, No. 101, A144-A154, 2014.
doi:10.1364/OE.22.00A144 Google Scholar

25. Mo, L., L. Yang, E. H. Lee, and S. He, "High-efficiency plasmonic metamaterial selective emitter based on an optimized spherical core-shell nanostructure for planar solar thermophotovoltaics," Plasmonics, Vol. 10, No. 3, 529-538, 2015.
doi:10.1007/s11468-014-9837-6 Google Scholar

26. Shackelford, J. F., Y. H. Han, S. Kim, and S. H. Kwon, CRC Materials Science and Engineering Handbook, CRC Press, 2015.

27. Touloukian, Y. S. and D. P. DeWitt, Thermophysical Properties of Matter, The TPRC Data Series, 1970.

28. Roberts, S., "Optical properties of nickel and tungsten and their interpretation according to Drude’s formula," Physical Review, Vol. 114, No. 1, 104, 1959.
doi:10.1103/PhysRev.114.104 Google Scholar

Mr. Zhipeng Hu

Dr. Yuan Zhang

Prof. Liu Liu

Dr. Liu Yang

Prof. Sailing He