Realistic modelling of TPV systems

Realistic modelling of a TPV system is a very demanding task. For a rough estimation of system limits many assumptions simplify the complexity of a thermophotovoltaic converter. It is obvious that real systems cannot be described in this way. An alternative approach that can deal with all these complexities such as arbitrary geometries, participating media, temperature distributions, etc is the Monte Carlo method (MCM). This statistical method simulates radiative energy transfer by tracking the history of a number of photons beginning with the emission by a radiating surface and ending with absorption on a surface or in a medium. All interactions are considered in this way. The disadvantage of large computation time compared to other methods is no longer a weakness with the speed of today's computers. If additional heat transfer modes conduction and/or convection are of similar magnitudes the complexity significantly increases. This paper points out different ways for realistic TPV system simulation focusing on statistical methods. This paper includes an example calculation for a combined radiation–conduction problem and a literature survey.