Title :
Development of a 500 Watt portable thermophotovoltaic power generator
Author :
Becker, F.E. ; Doyle, E.F. ; Mastronardi, R. ; Shukla, K. ; Linder, E.B. ; Garverick, L.M.
Author_Institution :
Thermo Power Corp., Waltham, MA, USA
Abstract :
In recent years, thermophotovoltaics (TPV) has been recognized as an emerging technology for the direct conversion of fuel to electricity. With the need for more advanced portable power systems for the military and commercial sectors, the opportunity to take this technology to the market is at hand. To meet this challenge, the Thermo Power Corporation has begun the development of an advanced portable 500 Watt TPV system. The technical approach focuses on optimizing the integrated performance of the primary subsystems in order to yield high energy conversion efficiency and system cost-effectiveness. An important aspect is the use of a narrow band fibrous ytterbia emitter radiating to high efficiency silicon photoconverters to minimize thermal and optical recuperation requirements, as well as nonrecoverable heat losses. Based on this design approach, power conversion efficiencies approaching 25% should be possible
Keywords :
elemental semiconductors; photovoltaic cells; silicon; solar cells; ytterbium compounds; 25 percent; 500 W; YbO-Si; cost-effectiveness; direct energy conversion; energy conversion efficiency; narrow band fibrous ytterbia emitter; performance; portable thermophotovoltaic power generator; silicon photoconverters; technical approach; Cost function; Energy conversion; Fuels; Hybrid power systems; Industrial power systems; Optical arrays; Photovoltaic systems; Power generation; Power system reliability; Silicon;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1996., Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE
Conference_Location :
Washington, DC
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3166-4
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1996.564399
