High-Temperature Metamaterial Emitter For Thermophotovoltaics

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories, proposes to develop a high energy density (HED) power source based on the principles of thermophotovoltaics (TPV). The core technology of the HED power source is a novel high-temperature, spectrally-selective metamaterial emitter with a tailored emission spectrum matched to the external quantum efficiency spectrum of a low-bandgap PV cell. The focus of the Phase I effort is to engineer the metamaterial emitter and demonstrate coupling to Sandia"s existing PV cells, with expected TPV efficiency of at least 20% and output power density of 1.5 W/cm2. In Phase II, a full-fledged HED power source, with anticipated TPV efficiency of ~30% and power density of 2.5 W/cm2, incorporating both an enhanced metamaterial emitter and a new state-of-the-art PV cell will be demonstrated.