1
LED (GaAs)
PV cell (InP)
1. The overall conversion efficiency of a CSTC (η)
η = ηcon ηot ηTPC , (1)
2. Solar concentrating efficiency
ηcon = 85%, (2)
3. The opto-thermal conversion efficiency of the absorber
QH
ηot = (3)
CQin
Corresponding equations:
∫ ∞ in − Qref − QBB
(1) QH = CQ
(2) Qin = 0 IAM1.5D (λ) dλ = 1000 W/m2
(3) C = 10 is the solar concentrating factor (The choice of C may depend on the calculations, and it is best to ensure that
the LED is around 600 K.)
(4) Qref = (1 − ϵ)CQin
(5) QBB = σϵ(TLED4
− TE4 )
environment temperature : TE = 300 K
Stefan Boltzmann constant: σ = 5.67 × 10−8 W m−2 K−4
ϵ = 0.1
4. The thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the TPC system
PTPC
ηTPC = , (4)
QH
PTPC = PPV − PLED = IPV VPV − ILED VLED (5)
IPV = q[FPV − RPV ]
(6)
ILED = q[FLED + RLED ]
∫ ∞
2π
FPV(LED) = 3 2 [Θ(TLED , VLED ) − Θ(TPV , VPV )]E dE, (7)
h c Eg,th
E
Θ(Tj , Vj ) = (8)
exp[(E − eVj )/(kB Tj )] − 1
where "j" stands for LED or PV. h = 6.626 × 10−34 J·s is the Planck constant, kB = 1.38 × 10−23 J/K is the Boltzmanns
constant, Eg,th = max(Eg,LED , Eg,PV ), Eg,LED and Eg,PV :
Eg,j (Tj ) = Eg,j (0) − αTj2 /(Tj + β) (9)
the parameters are shown in the table below
(np − n2i )t
R = (Cn n + Cp p)(np − n2i )t + (10)
τ (n + p + 2ni )
where t is the thickness of the LED and PV cell. C is the Auger recombination coefficient. n, p, and ni are the electron
concentration, hole concentration, and intrinsic carrier concentration, respectively. τ is the bulk SRH lifetime.
(
Equation:
√ )
n = 12 nd + n2d + 4 exp[eV /(kB T )]n2i
p = n − nd
electron doping concentration: nd = 5 × √ 1017 cm−3
The intrinsic carrier concentration: ni = Nc Nv exp[−Eg /(2kB T )],
2
TABLE I
R ELATED PARAMETERS USED IN THE MODEL [?], [?], [?], [?], [?], [?], [?], [?].
Value Value
Parameter Unit
(GaAs) (InP)
Eg (0) eV 1.519 1.421
α eVK−1 5.405×10−4 4.9×10−4
β K 204 327
t µm 1 1
Cn(p) cm6 s−1 10−30 9×10−31
nd cm−3 5×1017 5×1017
τ µs 16.7 10
Nc cm−3 4.7×1017 5.7×1017
Nv cm−3 9.0×1018 1.1×1019
5. Energy balance equation
QH = CQin − Qref − QBB (11)
QH = Qrad,net −PLED (12)
Qrad,net = Qloss + PPV (13)
Qloss = K(TPV − TE ), K = 500 Wm−2 K−1
E>E E<E
Qrad,net = Qrad,netg + Qrad,netg (14)
∫ Eg,th
E<E 2π
Qrad,netg = [Θ(TLED , 0) − Θ(TPV , 0)]E 2 dE
h3 c 2 0
∫ ∞ (15)
E>E 2π
Qrad,netg = 3 2 [Θ(TLED , VLED ) − Θ(TPV , VLED )]E 2 dE
h c Eg,th
Hi Ehsan, VLED and VPV are independent variables, which are smaller than the respective bandgaps. Based on the energy
conservation equation (11), (12), and (13), the temperatures of LED and PV cell, i.e. TLED and TPV , are determined.
We need to draw the following diagrams:
1. A three-dimensional drawing: PTPC , η, TLED , and TPV as functions of VLED and VPV .
2. ηmax , PTPC,opt , TLED,opt , TPV,opt , VLED,opt , and VPV,opt as functions of concentrating factor C.
3. The effect of the thermal emissivity, the heat-transfer coefficient, and the semiconductor thickness t on the optimal values
mentioned above.
4. The comparisons between our system, solar thermophotovoltaic cells (Replace the LED with a thermal emitter), and
photovoltaic cells for the different C.
Of course, if you have a better idea, you can draw some other diagrams as well.