Theoretical analysis and experimental research of photon-enhanced thermionic emission solar energy converters with InN photocathode

Abstract

In this study, an InN photocathode consisting of ZnO nanowire arrays was proposed as a cathode for a photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) solar energy converter. To optimize the performance of the device, we applied InN with a phonon bottleneck effect to the PETE converter. The theoretical model for PETE conversion with this complex photocathode was developed based on one-dimensional continuous equations and boundary conditions. We simulated and analyzed the conversion efficiency as a function of operating temperature, solar concentration, surface electron affinity, and operating voltage. Furthermore, we verified the feasibility of the proposed cathode through experiments on the current-voltage characteristics of the InN photocathode at different temperatures. The results of simulations and experiments indicated that InN is a promising photocathode material and may enable high-performance PETE devices. • An InN photocathode consisting of ZnO nanowire arrays is proposed and applied to a PETE solar converter. • By using one-dimensional continuity equations, the theoretical model with this complex photocathode is deduced. • The relationships between PETE conversion efficiency of InN photocathode and various parameters are simulated and analyzed. • The feasibility of the proposed cathode is verified by experiments on the I-V characteristics at different temperatures.