Performance analysis of indium antimonide thermophotovoltaic system with varied material and geometrical properties
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2021
Abstract
Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system generates electricity using the selective emission of radiation on a photovoltaic (PV) cell by heating an emitter to a very high temperature. In this work, Indium Antimonide (InSb) is used as it has a low bandgap of 0.23 eV and the performance of the InSb TPV system is compared to an Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) TPV system. TPV system of different geometries like cylindrical, flat planar, and polygonal shapes are simulated to understand the influence of TPV structure in the efficiency and reliable operating conditions of the TPV system. To enhance the efficiency of the TPV cell, a photonic crystal (PhC) filter is also inserted between the cell and the emitters that consists of a blackbody, Erbium Oxide (Er2O3), and Tungsten to allow only selective radiation from the emitter to the PV cell. The proposed TPV system has a simple structure, it is thermally stable, easy-to-manufacture, and it contains no moving parts. In summary, the performance of an InSb TPV system of different geometries is analysed by matching it with a filter and emitters made of different materials. The performance of the InSb TPV system is then benchmarked against an InGaAs TPV system.
Keywords
Thermophotovoltaics, Surface irradiation, TCAD modelling, Efficiency
Divisions
sch_ecs,nanotechnology
Funders
Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, FRGS Grant (FRGS/1/2019/TK10/UM/02/4)
Publication Title
Microelectronics Reliability
Volume
126
Issue
SI
Publisher
Elsevier
Publisher Location
THE BOULEVARD, LANGFORD LANE, KIDLINGTON, OXFORD OX5 1GB, ENGLAND