Preliminary design of a 10-kW thermophotovoltaic system for space applications

A very high degree of reflection of sub-bandgap energy photons from the cell back to the emitter was found to be crucial in achieving high efficiencies for a TPV system. Results show that small increases in reflectance above 0.85 lead to progressively larger increases in cell efficiency. In general, for a required power output, the radiator area, emitter temperature, emitter material and cell temperature may be chosen to satisfy various external constraints. The results can then be used to determine the optimum cell material and its operating temperature.