Open AccessConversion of broadband energy to narrowband emission through double-sided metamaterials
Author(s) -
Maowen Song,
Hong-Lin Yu,
Chenggang Hu,
Mingbo Pu,
Zuojun Zhang,
Jun Luo,
Xiangang Luo
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.21.032207
Subject(s) - narrowband , thermophotovoltaic , broadband , photovoltaic system , metamaterial , optics , optoelectronics , materials science , solar energy , common emitter , energy conversion efficiency , infrared , energy transformation , physics , electrical engineering , thermodynamics , engineering
In this paper, an energy harvesting/re-radiating device is proposed to realize high efficiency energy conversion in the solar thermo-photovoltaic system. Such device consists of double-sided metamaterials which are assembled by a broadband absorber working in the major solar spectrum, and a back-by-back narrowband emitter working in the infrared band. It is theoretically proved that most of solar light (from 0.28 μm to 4 μm) can be collected, and then, converted to a sharp emission at the maximal response energy level (~0.4 eV) of photovoltaic cells in thermal equilibrium state. The impact of high temperature (as large as 966 K) and the parasitic radiation on the performance is discussed and compensated by geometric optimization.