Thermophotovoltaic generation of electricity

Thermophotovoltaic electricity generation (TPV) is based on the photovoltaic (PV) conversion of infrared radiation. The infrared radiation is generated by heating an appropriate emitter. In most systems this is done by the combustion of fossil fuels. Thus TPV is an alternative approach to convert heat into electricity. Applications of TPV may be restricted to low-power energy conversion where fuel costs are not very significant. Another field of applications may be found in systems where waste heat in the form of infrared radiation is abundantly available. However, the main technological challenges of these TPV energy conversion are: highly efficient fuel to radiation conversion, photon management and spectral shaping, and efficient infrared photovoltaic radiation conversion.