SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL

ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER

NanoEngineering Group
Solar Thermoelectric Energy Conversion
Gang Chen,
1
Daniel Kraemer,
1
Bed Poudel,
2
Hsien-Ping Feng,
1
J. Christopher Caylor,
2
Giri Joshi,
3
Bo Yu,
3
Xiao Yan,
3
Yi Ma,
3
Xiaowei Wang,
3
Dezhi Wang,
3
Andrew Muto,
1
Kenneth McEnaney,
1
Matteo Chiesa,
1,4
and Zhifeng Ren
3
1
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
2
GMZ Energy, 11 Wall St., Waltham, MA 02458, USA
3
Department of Physics, Boston College,
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
4
Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi
2011 Thermoelectrics Application Workshop
San Diego, January 3-6, 2011
SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL
ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER
NanoEngineering Group
PV Usage of Solar Spectrum
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
Wavelength (

m)
T
e
r
r
e
s
t
r
i
a
l

S
o
l
a
r

S
p
e
c
t
r
u
m

(
W
/
m
2

m
)


AM1.5 Solar Spectrum
Energy Usable for Silicon PV Cells
Bandgap of Silicon
(1.1

m)
SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL
ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER
NanoEngineering Group
Efficiency --- TE vs. PV




0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
E
F
F
I
C
I
E
N
C
Y

(
%
)
AVERAGE FIGURE OF MERIT ZT
700 C
400 C
150 C
200 C
T
cold
=30 C
600 C
500 C
250 C
T
hot
-T
cold




0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
E
F
F
I
C
I
E
N
C
Y

(
%
)
AVERAGE FIGURE OF MERIT ZT
700 C
400 C
150 C
200 C
T
cold
=30 C
600 C
500 C
250 C
T
hot
-T
cold
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
E
F
F
I
C
I
E
N
C
Y

(
%
)
AVERAGE FIGURE OF MERIT ZT
700 C
400 C
150 C
200 C
T
cold
=30 C
600 C
500 C
250 C
T
hot
-T
cold
PV Efficiency
Bulk:
sc-Si: ~18%
poly-Si: ~15%
Thin-Films
a-Si: ~6-8%
CdTe: ~10%
Ideal Thermoelectric
Device Efficiency
SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL
ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER
NanoEngineering Group
Past Studies on Solar Thermoelectric Generators
Weston, 1888, Cu-Constantan
Efficiency 0.008%
M. Telkes, J. Appl. Phys., 1954
0.63% flat panel
3.35% with 50 optical concentration
Assumed incident solar insolation
Goldsmid, 1980s
<1% efficiency
Dent and Cobbles, 1982
Helliostat, unknown optical
concentration
6.3% Device Efficiency, 30% higher
than prediction
Amatya and Ram, 2010
3% at 66 optical concentration
SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL
ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER
NanoEngineering Group
System Challenge ---
Mismatch in Heat Flux
Solar insulation: ~ 1,000 W/m
2
Heat flux through a thermoelectric leg
2
5
m
W
10
001 . 0
100
.
1 ~ ~ =

m
K
K m
W
d
T
k q
Need to concentrate heat by ~100 times
SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL
ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER
NanoEngineering Group
Optical vs. Thermal Concentration
Optical Concentration
Fresnel Lens
electrode
bulb
absorber
TE leg
Heat
Spreader
A
lens
/A
absorber
= Optical
Concentration
A
absorber
/A
leg
=Thermal
Concentration
Fresnel Lens
electrode
Fresnel Lens
electrode
bulb
absorber
TE leg
Heat
Spreader
A
lens
/A
absorber
= Optical
Concentration
A
absorber
/A
leg
=Thermal
Concentration
Optical + Thermal Concentration
Thermal Concentration
SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL
ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER
NanoEngineering Group
Key Factors
TH TE
=
Efficiency
Thermal Efficiency
Thermoelectric Efficiency
Absorption efficiency
Radiation loss to ambient
Radiation loss between top
and bottom surfaces
Convection loss
Figure of merit
Electrical contact
Thermal contact
( )

+ +
+

= =
h c m
m
h
c h
i op
c h e
op s g te th
T T ZT
ZT
T
T T
q
T T
/ 1
1 1
) (
4 4

SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL
ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER
NanoEngineering Group
System Efficiency
Device
Efficiency
System
Efficiency
SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL
ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER
NanoEngineering Group
Predicted
System
Performance
op=1
2
3
10
op=1
2
3
10
op=1
2
3
10
SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL
ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER
NanoEngineering Group
Potential Improvements
SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL
ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER
NanoEngineering Group
Summary
Record high solar thermoelectric energy conversion
efficiency.
High efficiency due to (1) vacuum operation, (2)
selective surfaceshigh performance materials.
Solar thermoelectric energy conversion provides an
alternative between solar PV and solar thermal-
mechanical energy conversion.
Key factors are materials ZT and spectrally selective
surfaces.
Acknowledgments: DOE EFRC and MITEI