Conceptual design and performance analysis of concentrated solar‐driven TIC/AMTEC/TEG hybrid system

Summary Three kinds of static thermal to electrical conversion devices thermionic converter (TIC), alkali metal thermal electric converter (AMTEC), and thermoelectric generator (TEG) are incorporated into a novel thermoelectric hybrid system‐TIC/AMTEC/TEG hybrid system, driven by concentrated solar. To evaluate the performance of concentrated solar‐driven TIC/AMTEC/TEG hybrid system accurately, a comprehensive theoretical model based on the first law of thermodynamics has been established for the first time. The effects of load parameters (voltage output of TIC subsystem V 1 , electrode current density of AMTEC subsystem J 2 , dimensionless current of TEG subsystem i ) and dimensionless geometric parameters (the ratio of total electrode area of AMTEC subsystem to emitter area of TIC subsystem r , the ratio of TEG subsystem area to total electrode area of AMTEC subsystem c ) on the conversion efficiency of TIC/AMTEC/TEG hybrid system ( η ALL ) were discussed. Furthermore, in order to demonstrate the contribution of the hybrid system, the comparisons with two‐stage hybrid systems and subsystems were explored. The results show that both V 1 and i make a positive effect on η ALL ; however, V 1 is of greater importance for η ALL . η ALL increases first and then decreases under the influence of J 2 and r . Smaller c can sometimes achieve better η ALL . The comparison results reveal that the TIC/AMTEC/TEG hybrid system is outstanding in most cases.