Design and global optimization of high-efficiency solar thermal systems with tungsten cermets

Solar thermal, thermoelectric, and thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems have high maximum theoretical efficiencies; experimental systems fall short because of losses by selective solar absorbers and TPV selective emitters. To improve these critical components, we study a class of materials known as cerm...

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Main Authors: Chester, David A., Bermel, Peter A., Soljacic, Marin, Joannopoulos, John, Celanovic, Ivan L.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Optical Society of America 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76332
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7184-5831
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7244-3682
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author Chester, David A.
Bermel, Peter A.
Soljacic, Marin
Joannopoulos, John
Celanovic, Ivan L.
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies
Chester, David A.
Bermel, Peter A.
Soljacic, Marin
Joannopoulos, John
Celanovic, Ivan L.
author_sort Chester, David A.
collection MIT
description Solar thermal, thermoelectric, and thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems have high maximum theoretical efficiencies; experimental systems fall short because of losses by selective solar absorbers and TPV selective emitters. To improve these critical components, we study a class of materials known as cermets. While our approach is completely general, the most promising cermet candidate combines nanoparticles of silica and tungsten. We find that 4-layer silica-tungsten cermet selective solar absorbers can achieve thermal transfer efficiencies of 84.3% at 400 K, and 75.59% at 1000 K, exceeding comparable literature values. Three layer silica-tungsten cermets can also be used as selective emitters for InGaAsSb-based thermophotovoltaic systems, with projected overall system energy conversion efficiencies of 10.66% at 1000 K using realistic design parameters. The marginal benefit of adding more than 4 cermet layers is small (less than 0.26%, relative).
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spelling mit-1721.1/763322022-09-26T11:50:55Z Design and global optimization of high-efficiency solar thermal systems with tungsten cermets Chester, David A. Bermel, Peter A. Soljacic, Marin Joannopoulos, John Celanovic, Ivan L. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies MIT Materials Research Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research Laboratory of Electronics Chester, David A. Bermel, Peter A. Joannopoulos, John D. Soljacic, Marin Celanovic, Ivan Solar thermal, thermoelectric, and thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems have high maximum theoretical efficiencies; experimental systems fall short because of losses by selective solar absorbers and TPV selective emitters. To improve these critical components, we study a class of materials known as cermets. While our approach is completely general, the most promising cermet candidate combines nanoparticles of silica and tungsten. We find that 4-layer silica-tungsten cermet selective solar absorbers can achieve thermal transfer efficiencies of 84.3% at 400 K, and 75.59% at 1000 K, exceeding comparable literature values. Three layer silica-tungsten cermets can also be used as selective emitters for InGaAsSb-based thermophotovoltaic systems, with projected overall system energy conversion efficiencies of 10.66% at 1000 K using realistic design parameters. The marginal benefit of adding more than 4 cermet layers is small (less than 0.26%, relative). National Science Foundation (U.S.). Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (Program) (Award DMR-0819762) United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Science (Grant DE-SC0001299) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (Contract DAAD-19-02-D0002) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (Contract W911NF-07-D0004) 2013-01-22T20:22:21Z 2013-01-22T20:22:21Z 2011-03 2011-03 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1094-4087 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76332 Chester, David et al. “Design and Global Optimization of High-efficiency Solar Thermal Systems with Tungsten Cermets.” Optics Express 19.S3 (2011): A245. © 2011 OSA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7184-5831 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7244-3682 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.19.00A245 Optics Express Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Optical Society of America MIT web domain
spellingShingle Chester, David A.
Bermel, Peter A.
Soljacic, Marin
Joannopoulos, John
Celanovic, Ivan L.
Design and global optimization of high-efficiency solar thermal systems with tungsten cermets
title Design and global optimization of high-efficiency solar thermal systems with tungsten cermets
title_full Design and global optimization of high-efficiency solar thermal systems with tungsten cermets
title_fullStr Design and global optimization of high-efficiency solar thermal systems with tungsten cermets
title_full_unstemmed Design and global optimization of high-efficiency solar thermal systems with tungsten cermets
title_short Design and global optimization of high-efficiency solar thermal systems with tungsten cermets
title_sort design and global optimization of high efficiency solar thermal systems with tungsten cermets
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76332
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7184-5831
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7244-3682
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