再生可能な送電網:熱貯蔵からの電力回収が44%の効率を達成(Renewable grid: Recovering electricity from heat storage hits 44% efficiency)

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20024-05-23 ミシガン大学

ミシガン大学の研究によると、熱を電気に変換する装置が理論上の最高効率に近づき、電力網での実用化が見えてきました。熱バッテリーは、ピーク時の再生可能エネルギーを蓄え、後で電気に変換します。研究チームの新しい装置は1435°Cで44%の変換効率を持ち、従来の37%を超えました。この熱バッテリーはリチウムを使用せず、どこにでも設置可能です。熱源が生成する光子を最適化し、再利用するための空気層と金反射板を設置しました。この技術の効率はさらに向上すると期待され、特許申請中です。

<関連情報>

高効率エアブリッジ型熱光起電力電池 High-efficiency air-bridge thermophotovoltaic cells

Bosun Roy-Layinde, Jihun Lim, Claire Arneson, Stephen R. Forrest, Andrej Lenert
Joule  Published: May 22, 2024
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2024.05.002

Highlights

  • Air-bridge TPV cells are fabricated in a range of band gaps from 0.74 to 1.1 eV
  • Cells reflect nearly all of the incident below-band-gap radiation
  • Up to 44% efficient conversion is shown using emitter temperatures below 1,500°C
  • Compatibility with stable emitters and lower temperatures supports deployment

Context & scale

Thermophotovoltaics (TPVs) have the potential to enable a wide array of critical energy technologies, including a new generation of power-to-heat-to-power systems for inexpensive multi-day energy storage known as thermal batteries. Although energy storage at very high temperatures (>1,600°C) has been reported in pilot thermal batteries, the operating temperatures of most thermal emitters remain lower due to thermal stability issues. Realizing high TPV performance using readily available emitter temperatures and materials should accelerate the adoption of TPV systems. This work demonstrates air-bridge TPV efficiencies that are approaching practical thermodynamic limits without requiring ultrahigh emitter temperatures. The peak and average performances are significantly greater than previously attained in TPVs, promising large improvements in the round-trip efficiency and cost of thermal batteries.

Summary

Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells generate electricity by converting infrared radiation emitted by a hot thermal source. Air-bridge TPVs have demonstrated enhanced power conversion efficiencies by recuperating a large amount of power carried by below-band-gap (out-of-band) photons. Here, we demonstrate single-junction InGaAs(P) air-bridge TPVs that exhibit up to 44% efficiency under 1,435°C blackbody illumination. The air-bridge design leads to near-unity reflectance (97%–99%) of out-of-band photons for ternary and quaternary TPVs whose band gaps range from 0.74 to 1.1 eV. These results suggest the applicability of the air-bridge cells to a range of semiconductor systems suitable for electricity generation from thermal sources found in both consumer and industrial applications, including thermal batteries.

Graphical abstract

再生可能な送電網:熱貯蔵からの電力回収が44%の効率を達成(Renewable grid: Recovering electricity from heat storage hits 44% efficiency)

0402電気応用
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