Relationship between infrared spectral emissivity and temperature distribution of thermophotovoltaic systems

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering Vol. 230; p. 120857
• Main Authors: Pan, QingHui, Chen, ShuNi, Zhang, Cheng, Zhou, SiHong, Guo, YanMing, Shuai, Yong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 25.07.2023
• Subjects: Emissivity; Temperature field; Thermal energy conversion; Thermophotovoltaic system; Emissivity; Thermal energy conversion; Temperature field; Thermophotovoltaic system
• ISSN: 1359-4311
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2023.120857

•We quantitatively investigated the relationship between infrared spectral emissivity and core temperature in thermophotovoltaic systems.•In the infrared band, the lower spectral emissivity has a more pronounced effect on the core temperature enhancement.•We designed a thermophotovoltaic system with hexahedral structure. Matching the thermal radiation power spectrum to the band gap of photovoltaic cells is an important factor governing the efficiency of thermophotovoltaic systems. The ability of the emitter to achieve low radiation outside the operating spectrum of the photovoltaic cells effectively minimizes energy waste. In this study, we designed and developed a thermophotovoltaic system with a hexahedral structure and measured the effect of surface emissivity on the temperature distribution of the system. Comparing different thermal emitters at a fixed heat-source power of 200 W, the system core temperature reached 839 K and 900 K under standard atmospheric and vacuum conditions, respectively. The trend of the simulation was consistent with that of the experiment. Thus, we established a pattern of emissivity on the system temperature field and created a basis for a more efficient design of thermophotovoltaic systems.