Electro-Luminescent Refrigeration Enabled by Highly Efficient Photovoltaics

Recognition of the need to design for luminescence extraction has led to recent records in solar cell efficiency. These design principles also create opportunities to use the photovoltaic (PV) cell and its reciprocal device, the light-emitting diode (LED), in applications beyond solar energy. As LEDs approach the limit of unity external quantum efficiency, the outgoing photons carry away more energy than supplied to the device, and the phenomenon of electroluminescent cooling becomes accessible. We investigate a refrigeration scheme that uses an LED and a PV cell - both with near-unity quantum efficiency - on the two sides of a luminescent heat engine. With the best available materials, and a device design that maximizes light extraction, electroluminescent cooling can operate with a coefficient of performance that substantially exceeds that of other solid-state cooling technologies.