Considering the effect of optical attenuation on photon-enhanced thermionic emission converter of the practical structure
Huang Shanfeng,
Shen Xiaoming,
Fu Yuechun,
He Huan
Affiliations
Huang Shanfeng
Center of Ecological Collaborative Innovation for Aluminum Industry in Guangxi, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metal and Featured Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Shen Xiaoming
Center of Ecological Collaborative Innovation for Aluminum Industry in Guangxi, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metal and Featured Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Fu Yuechun
Center of Ecological Collaborative Innovation for Aluminum Industry in Guangxi, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metal and Featured Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
He Huan
Center of Ecological Collaborative Innovation for Aluminum Industry in Guangxi, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metal and Featured Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) is a new type of solar cell. The existing papers on PETE research do not consider the structure of actual PETE devices; in practical PETE structure, the original incident light intensity is attenuated by the window layer and the buffer layer (include anode in reflection PETE devices). In this paper, according to two kinds of the common structure of PETE device, the influence of transmission and reflection of sunlight on the conversion efficiency of PETE device is analyzed. Using a light-trapping structure on the cathode of the PETE device is a valid method to reduce the reflection of the incident light. The calculation results show that the optical attenuation has a great influence on the actual photon flux received by the cathode effective layer. Under the condition of reasonable operation of the device, the efficiency of PETE can be improved by reducing the size of the material, improving the light transmittance of the buffer layer and window layer, and using the light-trapping structure.
