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Near-field tandem thermophotovoltaic system with a dual-band emitter for medium-temperature waste heat recovery

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Listed:
  • Xie, Jie
  • Song, Jinlin
  • Deng, Zeming
  • Pan, Zhixin
  • Cheng, Qiang

Abstract

In recent years, thermophotovoltaic (TPV) conversion technology has attracted increasing attention due to its great potential for medium-temperature energy utilization. A near-field TPV system incorporating an InAs/InSb tandem cell for waste heat recovery of 600 K is proposed in this study. In order to match the bandgaps of the tandem cell, a dual-band emitter of an indium tin oxide (ITO) film covered on a Si layer is also designed, which exhibits high performance because the ITO layer supports surface plasmon polaritons, thus remarkably improving the absorption of effective photons. Results show that, the proposed system exhibits the maximum efficiency of 16.07 % and output power of 10.04 kW/m2 when d = 10 nm which outperforms single-junction TPV systems with single InAs cell and single InSb cell. Additionally, the influence of structure parameter, carrier recombination and losses are also analyzed. We hope that our findings facilitate design of near-field TPV systems for high-performance waste heat recovery.

Suggested Citation

  • Xie, Jie & Song, Jinlin & Deng, Zeming & Pan, Zhixin & Cheng, Qiang, 2026. "Near-field tandem thermophotovoltaic system with a dual-band emitter for medium-temperature waste heat recovery," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:259:y:2026:i:c:s0960148125027831
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.125119
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alina LaPotin & Kevin L. Schulte & Myles A. Steiner & Kyle Buznitsky & Colin C. Kelsall & Daniel J. Friedman & Eric J. Tervo & Ryan M. France & Michelle R. Young & Andrew Rohskopf & Shomik Verma & Eve, 2022. "Thermophotovoltaic efficiency of 40%," Nature, Nature, vol. 604(7905), pages 287-291, April.
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    3. Kim, Namwoo & Oh, Seonguk & Yu, Wonjong & Song, Jaeman, 2025. "Waste heat harvesting from thin-film solid oxide fuel cells via multi-junction near-field thermophotovoltaic integration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    4. Rohith Mittapally & Byungjun Lee & Linxiao Zhu & Amin Reihani & Ju Won Lim & Dejiu Fan & Stephen R. Forrest & Pramod Reddy & Edgar Meyhofer, 2021. "Near-field thermophotovoltaics for efficient heat to electricity conversion at high power density," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
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