I-Corps: Nonreciprocal Photonic Devices for Solar Thermophotovoltaics

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为太阳能收集系统开发非互易光子解决方案。与传统的太阳能电池相比，这种技术能够以具有成本效益的方式连续发电，全天候运行，展示了紧凑性，可扩展性和便携性，最重要的是，与传统的太阳能光伏系统相比，效率显着提高。此外，这项技术的便携性使其特别适合部署在欠发达地区和建立传统发电厂具有挑战性的地区。可扩展性允许集成到现有的电网中，提供了一种绿色解决方案，用于促进集中式太阳能发电厂的发电。所提出的技术可能有利于太阳能发电厂的安全运行和美国的能源安全。利用非互易函数，可以显著提高太阳能发电厂的效率。这种改善可能转化为更多的清洁能源，从而提高国家能源安全。总的来说，这项技术的采用代表着从石油和天然气作为发电厂的主要燃料过渡到采用更清洁的能源发电的重大进展。这个I-Corps项目是基于开发一种非互易光子器件，可用于太阳能热光电转换，以提高转换效率。使用该提出的技术，可以显著抑制在升高的温度下来自中间层的不期望的背发射。最近的理论分析表明，太阳能收集的效率可能会被推到理论上限与非互易光子功能。 关于可调度性和紧凑性，非互易太阳能热光伏技术被设计成与热存储组件耦合，并提供按需电力和可以基于电力需求按比例放大或缩小的系统。 此外，所提出的技术旨在通过升级中间层集成到传统的太阳能热光伏系统中。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a nonreciprocal photonic solution for solar energy harvesting systems. Compared to traditional solar cells, this proposed technology enables continuous electricity production in a cost-effective manner, operates around the clock, demonstrates compactness, scalability, and portability, and, most importantly, exhibits significantly higher efficiency compared to traditional solar photovoltaic systems. In addition, the portable nature of this technology makes it particularly suitable for deployment in underdeveloped regions and areas where establishing conventional power plants is challenging. The scalability allows for integration into existing power grids, presenting a green solution for facilitating electricity generation in concentrated solar energy power plants. The proposed technology may be beneficial to the safe operation of solar energy power plants and the energy security of the US. With the nonreciprocal functionality, the efficiency of solar power plants can be improved significantly. Such improvement may translate to more clean energy and, therefore, increase national energy security. Overall, the adoption of this technology represents a significant stride towards transitioning away from oil and gas as the primary fuel for power plants and embracing cleaner sources of energy for electricity generation. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a nonreciprocal photonic device that may be used in solar thermophotovoltaics to improve conversion efficiency. Using this proposed technology, the undesired back emission from the intermediate layer at elevated temperatures may be significantly suppressed. Recent theoretical analysis shows that the efficiency of solar energy harvesting may be pushed to the theoretical upper limit with nonreciprocal photonic functionality. Regarding dispatchability and compactness, the nonreciprocal solar thermophotovoltaic technology is designed to couple with thermal storage components and provide on-demand electric power and the system that may be scaled up or down based on the power demand. In addition, the proposed technology is designed to be integrated into traditional solar thermophotovoltaic systems by upgrading the intermediate layer. All other parts in the upper and lower stream of the intermediate layer should have no need to be changed.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.