The Critical Role of Substrates in Mitigating the Power–Efficiency Trade-Off in Near-Field Thermophotovoltaics
Kartika N. Nimje, Julien Legendre, Michela F. Picardi, Alejandro W. Rodriguez, Georgia T. Papadakis
TL;DR
This paper shows how substrate engineering can improve both power and efficiency in thermophotovoltaic systems.
Contribution
The novel use of gradient-based optimization to design substrates that enhance power and efficiency in near-field thermophotovoltaics.
Findings
Thin lossless metallic films with matched plasma frequencies improve radiative power density.
Optimized substrates increase power density by over an order of magnitude compared to noble metals.
Spectral confinement enhances efficiency while maintaining high power output.
Abstract
Near-field thermophotovoltaic systems can achieve ultrahigh power densities, however, this often comes at the cost of reduced efficiency. We show that this power–efficiency trade-off can be mitigated through substrate engineering. We exploit gradient-based optimization and show that thin lossless metallic films with plasma frequencies resonantly matched to the plasmonic emitter can yield high power and spectral efficiency by spectrally enhancing and confining radiative heat transfer to a narrow spectral range just above the photovoltaic bandgap. Compared to noble metals and air-bridged structures, designs deriving from such optimization yield more than an order-of-magnitude increase in radiative power density while maintaining high efficiency. Our results highlight the critical role of the substrate and the potential of substrate optimization for overcoming fundamental limitations of…
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Taxonomy
TopicsThermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies · Atmospheric aerosols and clouds · Advanced Thermodynamic Systems and Engines