Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) generators
Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) generators convert an infrared radiation into electricity by means of high efficient photovoltaic cells and consists of a fuel burner, heated emitter and heterostructure cells. TPV generators ensures:
- High (up to 30%) PV conversion efficiency of radiation to electricity;
- Any fuel may be used to heat the radiant surface;
- Quiet. There are no moving parts, so the generation process is silent;
- Low COx exhaust.
TPV generators based on GaSb cells with propane/butane fuel, basked-type metallic emitter. The developed TPV generators can produce the electric power of 3-20 W.
![](http://pvlab.ioffe.ru/images/tpv_gen.gif)
![](http://pvlab.ioffe.ru/images/portable.gif)
![](http://pvlab.ioffe.ru/images/tpv5.jpg)
Solar thermophotovoltaic conversion is based on a principle of conversion of concentrated solar energy into radiation from heated emitters with subsequent photovoltaic conversion of this radiation by low-bandgap photoconverters. Essential advantages of such system, compared to regular sun conversion, are the possibility of choosing materials with selective emission spectrum and recycling of unused sub-bandgap energy. Higher emitter temberatures increase the PV conversion efficiency of TPV receiver.
![](http://pvlab.ioffe.ru/images/stpv.jpg)
![](http://pvlab.ioffe.ru/images/stpv_gr.gif)
A solar TPV system consists of a sunlight tracker, a sunlight concentrator (lens or mirror) and a receiver.
Hybrid Solar/fuel TPV systems combine both mentioned energy sources, thus producing the electricity 24 hours/day, allowing saving the fuel. A hybrid SFTPV system consists of a sunlight tracker, a sunlight concentrator(lens or mirror), a fuel burner, and a receiver.
![](http://pvlab.ioffe.ru/images/htpv.jpg)
![](http://pvlab.ioffe.ru/images/htpv_scheme.jpg)