Modeling of Radiative Energy Transfer and Conversion in a TPV Power System

A Monte Carlo Method (MCM) based model has been developed to estimate the radiative energy transfer rate in the optical cavity comprising a TPV power system. The MCM model is augmented by back‐end calculations for the conversion of the photon flux to electrical power based on the TPV cell characteristics. The model has been developed using Mathematica™ and allows for semi‐transparent media, as well as non‐gray spectral and directional characteristics of surfaces in the optical cavity to be included. The overall model was used to corroborate the performance of a real TPV power system that was built at Fraunhofer ISE, and to conduct a preliminary parametric study of the role of emitter type and temperature.