Maximal nighttime electrical power generation via optimal radiative cooling

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that nighttime radiative cooling combined with thermoelectric generators can achieve over 2 W/m2 power density, significantly surpassing previous results, with practical and economically feasible system design.

Contribution

It introduces an optimized system design for nighttime power generation using radiative cooling and thermoelectric technology, achieving high efficiency with minimal footprint.

Findings

Power density over 2 W/m2 achievable with existing tech

Optimal emitter design increases power density by 153%

Thermoelectric generator covers less than 1% of system area

Abstract

We present a systematic optimization of nighttime thermoelectric power generation system utilizing radiative cooling. We show that an electrical power density over 2 W/m2, two orders of magnitude higher than the previously reported experimental result, is achievable using existing technologies. This system combines radiative cooling and thermoelectric power generation and operates at night when solar energy harvesting is unavailable. The thermoelectric power generator (TEG) itself covers less than 1 percent of the system footprint area when achieving this optimal power generation, showing economic feasibility. We study the influence of emissivity spectra, thermal convection, thermoelectric figure of merit and the area ratio between the TEG and the radiative cooler on the power generation performance. We optimize the thermal radiation emitter attached to the cold side and propose practical material implementation. The importance of the optimal emitter is elucidated by the gain of 153% in power density compared to regular blackbody emitters.