Gone are the days when harnessing solar energy required investment of hefty capital. With improvement in technology, solar energy can now be utilized at rates that will sway you off your feet. Some of the parameters considered while analyzing the cost of a setup are installation charges, amount of energy it will generate, expected lifetime of the system, maintenance cost, etc.
Solar energy can be harnessed by the conventional method of using photovoltaic materials or using an assortment of mirrors to focus light radiations. There is another recent advancement that is based on the use of thermo-photovoltaic devices. TPV solar cells respond to infra-red light. The fundamental working principle is similar to photovoltaic but with the difference that the uppermost layer has a selective absorber which results in emission of light unlike photovoltaic where the material itself absorbs sun radiations. The material on the top layer requires high temperature. So, it is imperative to use mirrors in TPV system to concentrate light and thereby increase temperature for proper working efficiency of the system. Photonic crystal can also be used instead of mirrors because they prevent heat from escaping similar to the effect produced by greenhouse gases.
TPV cell comprises of a photovoltaic diode cell and a thermal radiation source i.e. emitter. In TPV solar cell, sun functions as the emitter. These immobile parts cut down maintenance cost. TPV solar cells have added advantages like high power density and the quality of performing without causing noise amongst others. TPV cells in combination with solar cells can be used to generate electricity even when there is no sunlight. Surplus heat during day can be stored and later extracted by TPV cells for generating electricity. They are also economically viable.
Theoretical efficiency of a normal solar cell is about 30%. It can be increased to 41% but for that one needs to harness solar energy by firstly concentrating it over an area with the help of mirrors or lenses. The reason for less efficiency is that solar panel converts only certain colors effectively in spite of absorbing light from the entire spectrum. Energy of other wavelengths isn’t utilized. To solve this problem, in thermo-photovoltaic cells light is concentrated on a material which raises its temperature. Here, special care is taken while selecting the material as it has to be the one which emits radiations of wavelength which can be efficiently tapped by the solar cell. Because of this selective property of the absorbing material, TPVs can have efficiency as high as 85%.
Because of their advantages, TPVs have a great future. They can be used as portable power source by soldiers in the battlefield because they are light in weight and silent in operation. A hybrid car has already been built in Western Washington University by Vehicle Research Institute functioning on this technology. Their use as off-grid generators will soon be popular because they provide continuous power supply. Winters or nighttime wouldn’t affect their efficiency. Thermo-photovoltaic seem to be a promising companion for sustainable development.
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