Development of a silicon concentrator solar cell based TPV power system

Most of the previous studies on thermophotovoltaics (TPV) have focused on developing low bandgap TPV devices such as GaSb and GaInAsSb cells. Compared with the low bandgap TPV cells, silicon solar cells are low in cost and commercially available in large quantities. In the present study, a combustion driven TPV power system using silicon concentrator solar cells has been developed. In this system, a novel selective radiant burner was employed. The burner was incorporated with a heat recuperator. A selective radiator with a unique porous structure has been successfully fabricated and used in the burner. A prototype TPV system was designed and built in which a silicon concentrator solar cell array was installed. The electric output characteristics of the combustion driven TPV system have been investigated to demonstrate the feasibility of silicon solar cell based TPV power systems and provide experimental data for the design of larger TPV systems. Experimental results show that a photocurrent with a concentration factor of 20 has been achieved. When the combustion air was preheated to 550 °C, a power density of 0.2 W/cm2 was generated by the silicon concentrator solar cells.