Design and evaluation of a quasi-monochromatic and high-energy flow thermophotovoltaic test system

Abstract

The energy conversion efficiency of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells is quite different for different spectral energy and related to the spectral energy intensity. To obtain the energy conversion relationship of the thermophotovoltaic cell for various spectral energy with high-density flux, a test system was designed, which consists of a blackbody radiation source, spectrum control device, temperature control device, thermophotovoltaic cells, and cooling device. To evaluate the performance of the test system, the Monte Carlo ray tracing method and the finite volume method is applied to analyze the spectral energy transfer and temperature of the primary devices. The quasi-monochromatic and high-energy flow that reaches the cell surface can be obtained. The energy conversion performance of thermophotovoltaic cells under a single high-energy spectrum can be thoroughly investigated through this designed test system. The results show that the energy transfer efficiency of this newly designed test system is greater than 14 %. When the radiation source temperature is 1000 K, 1500 K, 2000 K, and 2500 K, the design efficiency of the testing system is 14.11 %, 14.38 %, 14.58 %, and 14.87 %, respectively. When the temperature of the blackbody radiation source is 2000 K and 2500 K, the energy conversion efficiency of the GaSb cell is 20.37 % and 22.85 %, respectively. This work provides theoretical guidance for developing a quasi-monochromatic and high-energy flow thermophotovoltaic test system.