Engineering Spectral Control Using Front Surface Filters for Maximum TPV Energy Conversion System Performance

Energy conversion efficiencies of better than 23% have been demonstrated for small scale tests of a few thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells using front surface, tandem filters [1,2]. The engineering challenge is to build this level of efficiency into arrays of cells that provide useful levels of energy. Variations in cell and filter performance will degrade TPV array performance. Repeated fabrication runs of several filters each provide an initial quantification of the fabrication variation for front surface, tandem filters for TPV spectral control. For three performance statistics, within-run variation was measured to be 0.7-1.4 percent, and run-to-run variation was measured to be 0.5-3.2 percent. Fabrication runs using a mask have been shown to reduce variation across interference filters from as high 8-10 percent to less than 1.5 percent. Finally, several system design and assembly approaches are described to further reduce variation