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I was unclear how this differed from what I would traditionally consider as solar power (photovoltaic power) as I had never heard of thermophotovoltaic power. A

I was unclear how this differed from what I would traditionally consider as solar power (photovoltaic power) as I had never heard of thermophotovoltaic power. After a quick search I found the following helpful: “The basic principle [of thermophotovoltaics] is similar to that of traditional photovoltaics (PV) where a p-n junction is used to absorb optical energy, generate and separate electron/hole pairs, and in doing so convert that energy into electricity. The difference is that the optical energy is not directly generated by the Sun, but instead by a material at high temperature (termed the emitter), that causes it to emit light. In this way thermal energy is converted to electrical energy.” [1] [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophotovoltaic https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophotovoltaic

lightedman 7y ago
Basically a highly-inefficient method of converting energy. I've looked at the article and the pictures, and what I see is basically slapping a solar cell with a gold mirror backing right near a hot ribbon of graphite - eg we're trying to use highly inefficient incandescence to generate light. Want to know what works better? Just the simple mix of gold into the p-n junction matrix and finger lines. Takes a silicon solar cell up to about 35% efficiency when properly doped into the junction material. This technology? Well, given incandescence isn't going to break ~30% efficiency (excepting in the IR-glass-sandwiched tungsten filament) you're literally just wasting energy. Best we've seen in general incan is ~12% efficiency, so enjoy your 30-ish percent of that (4%). You're better off with other technologies. This is neat, but you're looking at pretty much over-simulating the conditions of a solar cell welding line, which means that solar cell is going to likely bust over time under the heat stress. I foresee tons of problems with this tech, from the incan ribbon breaking to the cell harvesting energy breaking from the heat/cool cycling.

lightedman 7y ago

Basically a highly-inefficient method of converting energy. I've looked at the article and the pictures, and what I see is basically slapping a solar cell with a gold mirror backing right near a hot ribbon of graphite - eg we're trying to use highly inefficient incandescence to generate light. Want to know what works better? Just the simple mix of gold into the p-n junction matrix and finger lines. Takes a silicon solar cell up to about 35% efficiency when properly doped into the junction material. This technology? Well, given incandescence isn't going to break ~30% efficiency (excepting in the IR-glass-sandwiched tungsten filament) you're literally just wasting energy. Best we've seen in general incan is ~12% efficiency, so enjoy your 30-ish percent of that (4%). You're better off with other technologies. This is neat, but you're looking at pretty much over-simulating the conditions of a solar cell welding line, which means that solar cell is going to likely bust over time under the heat stress. I foresee tons of problems with this tech, from the incan ribbon breaking to the cell harvesting energy breaking from the heat/cool cycling.