Effect of top metallic contacts on radiation transfer and conversion efficiency for near-field ther- mophotovoltaics

Kevin Austry (1, 2) , Youssef Jeyar (1, 2) , Minggang Luo (1) , Brahim Guizal (1, 2) , R. Messina (3) , Rodolphe Vaillon (4, 5, 6) , Mauro Antezza (1, 2)

1 UM - Université de Montpellier
2 L2C - Laboratoire Charles Coulomb
3 Université Paris-Saclay
4 IES - Institut d’Electronique et des Systèmes
5 M@CSEE - Micro électronique, Composants, Systèmes, Efficacité Energétique
6 NRJ - Énergie

Design of the metallic contact grid at the front side of thermophotovoltaic cells is critical. Our study, based on a rigorous approach, investigates the real influence of the front metal contact grid. By modelling this grid by a metallic grating, we show that it can significantly affect the electrical power generated by the cell. Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate behaviors which are quite different from those predicted by previous simplistic approaches.

Mots clés: Radiation heat transfer modeling; near-field thermophotovoltaic

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Kevin Austry, Youssef Jeyar, Minggang Luo, Brahim Guizal, R. Messina, et al.. Effect of top metallic contacts on radiation transfer and conversion efficiency for near-field ther- mophotovoltaics. META 2023, S. Zouhdi & P. Lalanne, Jul 2023, Paris, France. ⟨hal-04172392⟩