Rethinking thermophotovoltaics for low-temperature heat (Dr. Eric Tervo, Univ. of Wisonsin)

Solid-state heat engines offer several advantages over their traditional mechanical counterparts via compact size, quiet operation, no moving parts, and scalability. However, current commercial devices such as thermoelectric converters suffer from low efficiency and challenges to further improvements. In this seminar, a different type of solid-state heat engine that utilizes thermal radiation, a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) device, will be described. This converts infrared light from a heated object to electricity by a photovoltaic cell. Its operation, demonstrations, and possible applications in a variety of energy conversion and storage scenarios will be discussed. Novel concepts for TPV cells and systems focused on lower-temperature heat sources will be highlighted. This will show that TPVs have the potential to significantly affect our energy infrastructure. (...)