Thermophotovoltaic Cells Market

Huge amount of residual or waste heat is continuously discharge into the environment from anthropogenic activities every year. This eventually leads to a rise in global temperatures over time. To mitigate this problem, thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems can be deployed to harvest this waste heat and recuperate energy with an added advantage of supplementary generation of electrical energy. A TPV system works by effectively converting thermal radiations from various heat sources such as industrial waste heat, heat from the combustion of fuels, and concentrated solar or nuclear energy into electricity. A thermophotovoltaic cell, which converts the photon radiation directly into electricity, is a core component of a TPV system. Apart from these cells, a TPV system consists of a heat generator, a radiator and a filter. A generator is a heat-driven source for TPV systems with a typical working temperature range from 1,000 to 2,000 K. A radiator emits electromagnetic energy by translating the heat from the generators into an emission spectrum. A filter then spectrally filters this emission to provide an appropriate receiver TPV cell sensitivity, which converts this electromagnetic energy to electricity.

There has been a constant rise in energy demands due to the increasing population and on industries. Although various countries are moving away from fossil fuel utilization to meet their decarbonization targets and to control greenhouse gas emissions, the renewable energy production is still not enough to suffice the humongous energy demand. For instance, BP Statistical Review of World Energy states that close to 80% of the global primary energy demand is met by fossil fuels. Also, fossils fuels are non-renewable and are bound to deplete over time due to unrestricted and excessive mining. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop alternatives to improve waste heat recycling and energy conversion efficiency to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels and increase the efficiency of existing energy technologies. This event is likely to drive the demand for TPV cells as they can be a potential alternative to achieve this target. Moreover, TPV systems utilizing TPV cells are highly reliable, noiseless, have a large power density, and are mechanically stable as they do not have any moving parts. This makes them extremely viable to be used in wide range of applications like space, solar TPV systems, combustion drive TPV generators, waste heat recovery, and thermal energy storage systems. The advantages of noiselessness, large power density, high reliability, and mechanical stability due to the lack of moving parts offered by TPV cells are expected to drive their demand as the technology becomes more viable and recognized.

The TPV cells market, however, is still developing and faces several restraints. Most of the TPV cells are fabricated using expensive growth technologies such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Also, to optimize cell performance, most TPV cells require front and back surface field layers, for which, expensive epitaxial growth fabrication method is employed. The high cost involved in manufacturing good quality TPV cells on a commercial level may negatively impact and restrain their usage unless cost-effective technologies are developed.

There are majorly two main types of TPV cells, namely, the GaSb-based TPV cell, and the InGaAs-based TPV cell. GaSb is a semiconductor compound, considered as one of the ideal semiconductor materials for TPV applications with temperature source ranging from 1300 K to 1500 K. A major advantage of the GaSb semiconductor material compared to the other conventional materials such as Si, and Ge is the less effect of higher operating temperature on the cell performance. The InGaAs semiconductor compound, is another commonly used material for TPV cells manufacturing. InGaAs cells are known for photodetector and sensor applications, however, there is limited work on the characterization of extended InGaAs for TPV application.

TPV cells can be utilized for a wide range of applications like thermal energy storage systems, space & satellite applications, off-grid power generation, and others including automotive and steel industry. TPV cells are of particular interest for thermal energy storage application. In a thermal energy storage system utilizing TPV cells, the energy is stored in the form of latent heat and transformed to electricity upon demand via the cells. Due to the lack of moving parts, high-efficiency TPV cells can be effectively used in space technology applications. Based on studies, TPV systems have been found to provide up to 40% efficiency and additional advantages of high-power density, lightweight, mechanically static, and direct electricity production from radiant heat in space power generation for satellites and spacecrafts. For off-grid power generation, solar TPV systems provide an efficient means of generating electricity from solar radiation. The system utilizes captured solar energy to heat up the radiator through a solar concentrator, which then emits thermal radiation to the TPV cell that converts the infrared photons into electricity.

In terms of region, the global TPV cells market can be segregated into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. In North America, the US is studying the viability of near field TPV systems to power military deployments and battlefield operations. The increasing investments in private space technology firms in the US and Canada is furthering presenting opportunities for the deployment of TPV cells. Furthermore, Europe is heavily dependent on natural gas for its energy needs. Geopolitical situations, however, are leading to an increasing uncertainty regarding the supply of natural gas. TPV systems, hence, can act as an efficient alternative which can harvest the waste heat from industrial and domestic sources to generate power. The sustained industrial growth and the higher power demand in Asia Pacific is contributing significantly to global warming. This is compelling economies like India, China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and others in the region to look for efficient and sustainable power generation technologies. This can increase the utilization of TPV systems in the region for power generation and other applications, with an additional advantage of reduction in emission of waste heat to the environment. Similar trends across the rest of the regions may increase the commercial utilization of TPV cells in the near future, driving their demand.

The major players operating in the TPV cells market include JX Crystals Inc. (US), General Atomics (US), and Antora Energy (US). Further research on increasing the conversion efficiency and commerciality of TPV cells is being carried out by research institutes like the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (US), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (US), Army Research Labs (US), Fraunhofer ISE (Germany), and Sandia National Laboratories (US).