Thermophotovoltaic devices without mirrors to concentrate sunlight to 1000 degrees celsius and 37% overall system efficiency
Researchers at MIT have found a way to use thermophotovoltaic devices without mirrors to concentrate the sunlight, potentially making the system much simpler and less expensive. The key is to prevent the heat from escaping the thermoelectric material, something the MIT team achieved by using a photonic crystal: essentially, an array of precisely spaced microscopic …