title: Design and global optimization of high-efficiency thermophotovoltaic systems.
abstract: Despite their great promise, small experimental thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems at 1000 K generally exhibit extremely low power conversion efficiencies (approximately 1%), due to heat losses such as thermal emission of undesirable mid-wavelength infrared radiation. Photonic crystals (PhC) have the potential to strongly suppress such losses. However, PhC-based designs present a set of non-convex optimization problems requiring efficient objective function evaluation and global optimization algorithms. Both are applied to two example systems: improved micro-TPV generators and solar thermal TPV systems. Micro-TPV reactors experience up to a 27-fold increase in their efficiency and power output; solar thermal TPV systems see an even greater 45-fold increase in their efficiency (exceeding the Shockley-Quiesser limit for a single-junction photovoltaic cell).
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, USA. bermel@mit.edu
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bermel
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghebrebrhan
authors.forename: Walker
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Yi Xiang
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Yeng
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Araghchini
authors.forename: Rafif
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hamam
authors.forename: Christopher H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Marton
authors.forename: Klavs F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Marin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soljačić
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Joannopoulos
authors.forename: Steven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Celanovic