Radiative cooling for concentrating photovoltaics (Conference Presentation)

Peter Bermel

doi:10.1117/12.2532033

9 September 2019 Radiative cooling for concentrating photovoltaics (Conference Presentation)

Peter Bermel

Proceedings Volume 11121, New Concepts in Solar and Thermal Radiation Conversion II; 1112109 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2532033
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2019, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Radiative cooling is a uniquely compact and passive cooling mechanism. Significant applications can be found in energy generation, particularly concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) and thermophotovoltaics (TPV). Both rely on low-bandgap PV cells that experience significant reductions in performance and lifetime when operating at elevated temperatures. This issue creates a significant barrier to widespread adoption. To address this challenge, we demonstrate enhanced radiative cooling for low-bandgap PV cells under concentrated sunlight for the first time. A composite material stack is used as the radiative cooler. Enhanced radiative cooling reduces operating temperatures by 10 degrees C, translating into a relative increase of 5.7% in open-circuit voltage and an estimated increase of 40% in lifetime at 13 suns. Using a model, we also estimate the same setup could achieve an improvement of 34% in open-circuit voltage for 35 suns, which could reduce levelized costs of energy up to 33% for high activation energy failure modes. The radiative cooling enhancement demonstrated here is a simple and straightforward approach, which can be generalized to other optoelectronic systems.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Peter Bermel "Radiative cooling for concentrating photovoltaics (Conference Presentation)", Proc. SPIE 11121, New Concepts in Solar and Thermal Radiation Conversion II, 1112109 (9 September 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2532033

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available