Thermionic solar energy converter

将阳光转化为电能为更清洁、更可持续的未来提供了一条有希望的途径。它也代表了一个快速增长的全球市场;最近的产能以每年15- 20%的速度增长。然而，尽管太阳能产业每年已经产生数百亿美元的收入，但它仍然只占世界电力需求的不到1%。今天，大多数太阳能发电机基于光伏效应及其变化（聚光光伏或热光伏）或热方法（例如为涡轮机产生蒸汽）来操作。必须继续研究和开发这些技术。与此同时，寻求有前景的替代方法也至关重要。另一种发电方法包括太阳能转换。热离子转换器可以具有非常高的效率，并使用大部分的太阳光谱，提供高功率密度，并且原则上简单而坚固。然而，由于与热量产生和管理相关的根本挑战，这些迄今尚未成为现实。最近，由于发现了纳米结构材料中不寻常的加热效应，以及我们不列颠哥伦比亚省大学的研究小组在此基础上演示了太阳能电子转换，情况发生了变化。该项目的目标是利用这一发现，为加拿大成为世界领先者的太阳能发电新方法奠定基础。该项目汇集了来自电气工程，物理和机械工程的研究人员的专业知识，与四个加拿大工业合作伙伴（Heliene，SunCentral，Plasmionique，Jadoo Technologies）密切合作。除了与清洁能源有关的巨大潜在经济效益以及社会和环境效益外，该项目还确保在快速增长的工业部门培训高素质人员。

Conversion of sunlight to electricity offers a promising avenue toward a cleaner, more sustainable future. It also represents a rapidly growing worldwide market; the capacity has been increasing at 15-20 percent per year recently. However, although the solar industry already generates tens of Billions of dollars in revenue annually, it still covers less than one percent of the world's electricity demand. Today, the majority of solar electricity generators operate based on the photovoltaic effect and its variations (concentrated photovoltaics or thermal photovoltaics), or thermal methods such as creating steam for a turbine. It is important to continue research and development in these technologies. At the same time, it is crucial to also pursue promising alternative approaches.A different method of generating electricity consists of thermionic solar energy conversion. Thermionic convertors could have very high efficiency and use a large portion of the solar spectrum, deliver a high power density, and are, in principle, simple and robust. However, due to fundamental challenges associated with heat generation and management, these have not become a practical reality so far. Recently, the situation has changed due to the discovery of an unusual heating effect in nanostructured materials, and demonstration of solar thermionic conversion based on it, by our research group at the University of British Columbia. The goal of this project is to capitalize on this finding and establish the foundation for a novel approach to solar electricity generation in which Canada could become a world leader. This project assembles the expertise ofresearchers from electrical engineering, physics, and mechanical engineering, working in close collaboration with four Canadian industrial partners (Heliene, SunCentral, Plasmionique, Jadoo Technologies). In addition to significant potential economic benefits, as well as societal and environmental benefits associated with clean energy, this project ensures the training of highly qualified personnel in a rapidly growing industrial sector.