Abstract
We present theoretical considerations as well as detailed numerical design of absorber and emitter for Solar Thermophotovoltaics (STPV) applications. The absorber, consisting of an array of tungsten pyramids, was designed to provide near-unity absorptivity over all solar wavelengths for a wide angular range, enabling it to absorb light effectively from solar sources regardless of concentration. The emitter, a tungsten slab with Si/SiO(2) multilayer stack, provides a sharp emissivity peak at the solar cell band-gap while suppressing emission at lower frequencies. We show that, under a suitable light concentration condition, and with a reasonable area ratio between the emitter and absorber, a STPV system employing such absorber-emitter pair and a single-junction solar cell can attain efficiency that exceeds the Shockley-Queisser limit.
Highlights
When a single-junction solar cell is illuminated by sunlight, its efficiency is subject to the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit [1], which sets a fundamental upper bound on its efficiency
When integrated into a Solar Thermophotovolatics (STPV) setup, we show that the composite system can surpass maximum theoretical efficiency of any single-junction solar cell in the SQ limit, even without taking into account the additional efficiency gain due to photon recycling between the emitter and the cell
Before we discuss the details of our absorber design we briefly review the basic requirement for absorbers in STPV [9]
Summary
When a single-junction solar cell is illuminated by sunlight, its efficiency is subject to the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit [1], which sets a fundamental upper bound on its efficiency This limit arises from several intrinsic loss mechanisms: Solar photons below the band-gap do not contribute to electrical current. To date no realistic design has been put forth for an appropriate intermediate structure that, when used in a STPV system with a single-junction solar cell, allows theoretical efficiencies that exceed the SQ limit. When integrated into a STPV setup, we show that the composite system can surpass maximum theoretical efficiency of any single-junction solar cell in the SQ limit, even without taking into account the additional efficiency gain due to photon recycling between the emitter and the cell.
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