How thermophotovoltaics can help decarbonize the grid

Authors

  • Alina LaPotin MIT
  • Asegun Henry

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25250/thescbr.brk681

Keywords:

Thermophotovoltaic, TPV, heat engine, energy storage

Abstract

Thermophotovoltaics (TPV) are a technology that can turn light into electricity, just like solar panels. However, instead of taking their energy from the sun, TPVs make use of the light emitted by a hot object in close proximity. We demonstrated a new record-breaking efficiency of more than 40% for TPVs, enabling the viability of this technology for ‘thermal battery’ energy storage.

Author Biographies

  • Alina LaPotin, MIT

    PhD Candidate

  • Asegun Henry

    Associate Professor

Original article reference

LaPotin, A., Schulte, K. L., Steiner, M. A., Buznitsky, K., Kelsall, C. C., Friedman, D. J., Tervo, E. J., France, R. M., Young, M. R., Rohskopf, A., Verma, S., Wang, E. N., & Henry, A. (2022). Thermophotovoltaic efficiency of 40%. Nature, 604(7905), 287–291. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04473-y

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Published

2023-02-22

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 1 (2023): TheScienceBreaker

Section

Maths, Physics & Chemistry

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Alina LaPotin, Asegun Henry

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.