The effect of space charge neutralization on the parametric design of photon enhanced thermionic solar converters

Abstract

Photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) is a promising method for increasing current density at relatively low cathode temperatures, but is susceptible to the space charge effect. In this study, we propose a novel PETE device model in which the space-charge barrier is relaxed by photon-excited cesium ions. The decrease in maximum efficiency with interelectrode gap is more gradual compared to previous studies. We investigate the effects of cathode materials properties (band gap and electron affinity) and operating conditions (cathode temperature and interelectrode gap) on PETE performance, and identify optimal performance conditions. Our findings show that the optimal gap range exceeds 5 μm and near field radiation loss can be minimized, providing an important opportunity for designing PETE device with larger interelectrode gaps and higher solar flux concentrations.