Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to solve the problems of low energy conversion efficiency and heat loss caused by energy transmission to the outside of a system due to mismatch of absorption band gaps of batteries in the prior art.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a thermophotovoltaic system with a back reflector, comprising:
photovoltaic cells as radiation receivers and photoelectric converters;
a heat dissipating fin; and
a back reflector disposed therebetween; the back reflector includes a metal substrate and a metal film deposited on the metal substrate.
Optionally, a microstructure is arranged on the metal film; the microstructure comprises a groove and a bulge, wherein the bulge is any one or more of a straight line shape, a broken line shape, a wave shape or a salient point.
Optionally, the metal substrate is an aluminum substrate, and the metal thin film is any one of gold, silver, platinum, and iridium.
Optionally, the method further comprises:
a heat radiator disposed on the photovoltaic cell;
a heat source; and
and the heat insulation material is arranged on the outer side of the thermal photovoltaic system.
The invention also provides a preparation method of the thermophotovoltaic system with the back reflector, which is used for preparing the thermophotovoltaic system and comprises the following steps:
providing a metal substrate, and preparing the metal film on the metal substrate to obtain the back reflector;
step two, providing a photovoltaic cell, wherein one surface of the back reflector is tightly pressed on the back surface of the photovoltaic cell;
and step three, arranging a heat dissipation fin on the other surface of the back reflector.
Optionally, the metal film is prepared by a physical deposition method, wherein the physical deposition method is any one of magnetron sputtering, pulsed laser deposition, vacuum thermal evaporation, chemical vapor deposition, ion deposition or high-temperature pyrolysis spraying.
Optionally, the physical deposition method is magnetron sputtering, the sputtering power is 150-200w, the deposition temperature is 350-450 ℃, the oxygen flow is 10-15sccm, and the backing vacuum is less than 10-5 Torr.
Optionally, the first step further comprises:
etching a microstructure on the metal film, wherein the microstructure comprises a groove and a bulge;
the method for etching the microstructure is any one of plasma etching, ultraviolet light etching, electron beam etching or chemical corrosion etching.
Optionally, in the second step, the back reflector is pressed against the back surface of the photovoltaic cell by a pressure device at a temperature of 800-.
Optionally, the method further comprises:
and step four, providing a heat radiator and a heat source which are arranged on the photovoltaic cell, and providing a heat-insulating material which is arranged outside the photovoltaic system.
The invention has the beneficial effects that:
aiming at the problem of low thermoelectric conversion efficiency caused by mismatching of the heat source radiation energy and the photovoltaic cell forbidden band width in the traditional thermophotovoltaic cell, the invention is provided with the infrared band back reflector, the heat radiation energy which is not utilized by the cell is reflected back to the radiation source, and the forbidden band matching of the spectrum is realized by increasing the temperature of the heat radiation source and the re-radiation of the energy. The back reflector also reduces the energy transferred to the heat dissipation system connected to the back of the battery, thereby reducing the heat loss of the entire system and improving the system efficiency.
Detailed Description
The technical solutions of the present invention will be described clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it should be understood that the described embodiments are some, but not all embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the present application provides a thermophotovoltaic system with a back reflector, which includes aheat source 1, aheat radiator 2, aphotovoltaic cell 3, aheat dissipation fin 5 and aheat insulating material 6, wherein theheat dissipation fin 5 is a temperature regulation unit of thephotovoltaic cell 3. Between thephotovoltaic cells 3 and theheat sink fins 5, aback reflector 4 is provided. Theback reflector 4 comprises a metal substrate, and a micron thick metal film deposited on the metal substrate. Theback reflector 4 is the spectral modulation unit of the system. For the energy radiated by theheat source 1 to thephotovoltaic cell 3 through theheat radiator 2 but not utilized by thephotovoltaic cell 3, theback reflector 4 reflects part of the energy back to theheat source 1 and theheat radiator 2 to increase the temperature of theheat source 1 and theheat radiator 2, and the part of the energy can be radiated to thephotovoltaic cell 3 again, so that the forbidden band matching of the spectrum is realized. Because theback reflector 4 is disposed on the back of thephotovoltaic cell 3, theback reflector 4 can also reduce the energy transferred to the heat dissipation system on the back of thephotovoltaic cell 4, thereby reducing the heat dissipation of the whole system and improving the system efficiency.
Compared with the traditional solar cell, the spectrum range of the heat source of the thermophotovoltaic cell is larger, and the energy proportion of the cell capable of being directly utilized is smaller, so that an infrared heat energy recovery system which is more effective and easy to implement must be provided for improving the energy utilization efficiency of the thermophotovoltaic system. The spectral range reflected by theplanar back reflector 4 is limited, and in order to improve the energy recovery utilization rate and reduce the parasitic absorption effect, as shown in fig. 3 and 4, a microstructure is further provided on the metal film of theback reflector 4, the microstructure includes a groove 41 and a protrusion 42, and the protrusion 42 may be set to be any one or more of a linear shape, a zigzag shape, a wave shape or a salient point. The microstructuredback reflector 4 can provide microstructure-based air cavities, providing greater thermal resistance in the direction of thermal energy loss; meanwhile, the multilayer reflective interface formed by the air and theback reflector 4 provides higher infrared reflection efficiency, so that the overall heat recovery efficiency of the thermophotovoltaic system is improved.
The invention also provides a preparation method of the thermophotovoltaic system with the back reflector, which comprises the following steps:
step one, providing a metal substrate, and preparing a metal film on the metal substrate to obtain the back reflector.
The metal film is prepared by a physical deposition method, wherein the physical deposition method is any one of magnetron sputtering, pulsed laser deposition, vacuum thermal evaporation, chemical vapor deposition, ion deposition or high-temperature pyrolysis spraying. The surface stably combined with the photovoltaic cell and prepared by adopting a physical deposition methodThe flat metal back reflector with high infrared reflectivity can successfully improve the thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the thermophotovoltaic power generation system. Preferably, the physical deposition method is magnetron sputtering, the sputtering power is 150--5Torr。
The metal substrate is an aluminum substrate, and the thickness of the metal substrate is 2-3 mm; the metal film is any one of gold (Au), silver (Ag), platinum (Pt) and iridium (Ir), and has a thickness of 3-10 μm.
Optionally, the first step further comprises grinding the surface of the metal substrate to make the roughness Ra less than 0.1, and processing the metal film on the rough surface.
Optionally, in the first step, a microstructure is etched on the metal film. The microstructure includes a groove and a protrusion. The method for etching the microstructure is any one of plasma etching, ultraviolet light etching, electron beam etching or chemical corrosion etching.
Optionally, the microstructure includes a groove and a protrusion, and the protrusion is any one or more of a linear shape, a zigzag shape, a wave shape or a salient point. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the protrusions are linear, and a photolithographic mask with a period of 5-150nm and a line width of 25-50nm is prepared first, and then grooves with a period of 5-150nm and a line width of 25-50nm are grown on the metal film by an electron beam deposition method.
And step two, providing a photovoltaic cell, wherein one surface of the back reflector is tightly pressed on the back surface of the photovoltaic cell.
The photovoltaic cell is a narrow-gap photovoltaic cell which is used as a radiation receiver and a photoelectric converter of the system, the photovoltaic cell is a doped III-V semiconductor compound prepared by a physical deposition technology, and the III-V semiconductor compound is any one of gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium antimonide (GaSb), gallium indium arsenide (InGaAs) and gallium indium antimonide (InGaAsSb).
Optionally, the back reflector is pressed against the back side of the photovoltaic cell by a pressing device at a temperature of 800-.
And step three, arranging a heat dissipation fin on the other surface of the back reflector.
The material of the radiating fin is metal copper.
And step four, providing a heat radiator and a heat source which are arranged on the photovoltaic cell, and providing a heat-insulating material which is arranged outside the photovoltaic system.
The heat radiator is arranged beside a heat source, the material of the heat radiator is any one of silicon carbide (SiC), metal tungsten (W) or metal tantalum (Ta), and the heat source is any one of a natural gas combustion chamber, a solar radiation condenser and an isotope heat source.
The heat insulating material is aluminum silicate.
Example 1
(1) Theheat radiator 2 is made of a silicon carbide material. Adding a proper amount of silicon carbide raw material into a graphite crucible by utilizing a Physical Vapor Transport (PVT) technology, placing the graphite crucible at the bottom, arranging a crystal low-temperature growth area at the upper part of the crucible, heating the bottom of the crucible to 2000 ℃, controlling the temperature gradient of the silicon carbide raw material to be 5-20K/cm, enabling the deposition rate of the silicon carbide to be less than or equal to 0.5mm/h, finally obtaining a silicon carbide sheet with the diameter of more than 3cm and the thickness of more than 1mm, and polishing to obtain the silicon carbide heat radiator.
(2) Aphotovoltaic cell 3 is prepared by adopting a gallium indium antimony arsenide material and is used as a system radiation receiver and a photoelectric converter. Preparing a GaInSb wafer by using an MOCVD method, sequentially cleaning the GaInSb wafer by using acetone, ethanol, hydrochloric acid and ethanol, blow-drying by using nitrogen, diffusing and doping a zinc (Zn) element on the surface of the GaInSb wafer by using a physical vapor deposition method to form a pn junction, and preparing upper and lower surface electrodes of a battery by using a physical deposition and photoetching method.
(3) A metal aluminum substrate with the thickness of 2-3mm is manufactured by a Pulse Laser Deposition (PLD) method, and the growth rate is 0.4 mm/h. And grinding the surface of the prepared metal aluminum substrate by using a grinder to ensure that the roughness Ra < 0.1. Preparing a 5-micron gold layer on an aluminum substrate by a magnetron sputtering method, wherein the sputtering parameters are as follows: the sputtering power is 175W, the deposition temperature is 400 ℃, the oxygen flow is 12.5sccm, and the vacuum degree of the back bottom is less than 10-5 Torr. Preparing a photoetching mask with the period of 100nm and the line width of 25nm, and growing grooves with the period of 100nm and the line width of 25nm made of the same materials on the prepared gold layer with the thickness of 5 microns by using an electron beam deposition method. Theprepared back reflector 4 with the groove microstructure is pressed tightly on the back surface of the battery at a certain pressure by a pressing device under the heating condition of 800 ℃.
(4) Redcopper radiating fins 5 are mounted on the back of the photovoltaic cell provided with the back reflector.
(5) And a heat-insulatingmaterial 6 made of aluminum silicate is arranged outside the system and used for reducing heat loss of the system.
Compared with the conventional thermophotovoltaic system without theback reflector 4, the thermophotovoltaic system provided in example 1 has the system efficiency improved by 22.5% under the condition that the emitter is near black body radiation at 1200 ℃.
Fig. 5 shows a graph of photon reflectance for a back reflector without microstructures compared to a back reflector with microstructures. The system with the back reflector of example 1 of the present invention has a reduced heat source power from about 1250W to about 1040W, about 16% lower for the same temperature (1200 c) maintained by the emitter compared to a system with the same material, non-microstructured back reflector, demonstrating that the system efficiency is superior to a thermophotovoltaic system with a non-microstructured back reflector, while also reducing the heat loss of the system.
Example 2
(1) Theheat radiator 2 is made of a silicon carbide material. Adding a proper amount of silicon carbide raw material into a graphite crucible by utilizing a Physical Vapor Transport (PVT) technology, placing the graphite crucible at the bottom, arranging a crystal low-temperature growth area at the upper part of the crucible, heating the bottom of the crucible to 2000 ℃, controlling the temperature gradient of the silicon carbide raw material to be 5-20K/cm, enabling the deposition rate of the silicon carbide to be less than or equal to 0.5mm/h, finally obtaining a silicon carbide sheet with the diameter of more than 3cm and the thickness of more than 1mm, and polishing to obtain the silicon carbide heat radiator.
(2) A gallium arsenide material is used for preparing aphotovoltaic cell 3 which is used as a system radiation receiver and a photoelectric converter. Preparing a gallium arsenide wafer by using an MOCVD method, sequentially cleaning the gallium arsenide wafer by using dimethylbenzene, ethanol, hydrochloric acid and ethanol, drying the gallium arsenide wafer by using nitrogen, diffusing and doping zinc (Zn) elements on the surface of the gallium arsenide wafer by using a thermal evaporation method to form pn junctions, and preparing electrodes on the upper surface and the lower surface of a battery by using a physical deposition and photoetching method.
(3) The metal aluminum substrate with the thickness of 2-3mm is manufactured by a Pulse Laser Deposition (PLD) method, and the growth rate is 0.4 mm/h. And grinding the surface of the prepared metal aluminum substrate by using a grinder to ensure that the roughness Ra of the metal aluminum substrate is less than 0.1. Preparing a platinum layer with the thickness of 4 mu m on an aluminum substrate by a magnetron sputtering method, wherein the sputtering parameters are as follows: the sputtering power is 200W, the deposition temperature is 410 ℃, the oxygen flow is 12.0sccm, and the vacuum degree of the back bottom is less than 10-5 Torr. Preparing a photoetching mask with the period of 75nm and the line width of 30nm, and growing grooves with the period of 75nm and the line width of 30nm made of the same material on the prepared platinum layer with the thickness of 4 microns by using an electron beam deposition method. Theprepared back reflector 4 with the groove microstructure is pressed tightly on the back surface of the battery at a certain pressure by a pressing device under the heating condition of 800 ℃.
(4)Brass cooling fins 5 are mounted on the back of the photovoltaic cell where the back reflector is located.
(5) And a heat-insulatingmaterial 6 made of aluminum silicate is arranged outside the system and used for reducing heat loss of the system.
Compared with the thermophotovoltaic system without the battery back reflector with the same structure, the thermophotovoltaic system based on the metal microstructure back reflector prepared in theembodiment 2 has the advantages that the system efficiency is improved by 18.8% under the condition that the temperature of the emitter is 1200 ℃ and is close to black body radiation, and meanwhile, the heat loss of the system is reduced. The comprehensive efficiency is superior to that of the traditional thermophotovoltaic system.
Example 3
Example 3 is the same as the preparation method of example 1 except that a back reflector with a zigzag-shaped microstructure of the same material having a periodic interval of 5to 150nm and a line width of 25 to 50nm is grown on a gold layer of 5 μm thickness by an electron beam deposition method, and the structure thereof is shown in fig. 6.
Example 4
Example 4 is the same as the preparation method of example 1 except that a back reflector having a bump-shaped microstructure with a period interval of 5to 150nm and a line width of 25 to 50nm of the same material is grown on a gold layer of 5 μm thickness by an electron beam deposition method, and the structure thereof is shown in fig. 7.
In summary, the invention provides a thermophotovoltaic system with a back reflector and a preparation method thereof, wherein a metal material with high infrared reflectivity is placed on the back of a photovoltaic cell in the thermophotovoltaic system to form a cell back reflector, and out-of-band infrared radiant energy which is not utilized by the photovoltaic cell is reflected back to a heat radiator, so that the system efficiency is improved by more than 18%, the comprehensive utilization rate of the system to the energy of the heat radiator is obviously improved, and the heat dissipation of the system is reduced. The system efficiency of the radiator at 1200 ℃ obtained by each embodiment is superior to that of the traditional thermophotovoltaic power generation device which does not adopt the method, so that the invention can prove that the power generation performance of the traditional thermophotovoltaic power generation system is effectively improved. In addition, the manufacturing method of the thermophotovoltaic system based on the metal microstructure back reflector has universality and mature preparation method, and is suitable for engineering application.
While the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the above description should not be taken as limiting the invention. Various modifications and alterations to this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined from the following claims.