Numerical modeling of thermophotovoltaic cells and systems

There are three distinct, although coupled, components to a complete model of a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system: a thermodynamic model; an optical model; and a detailed numerical device model. An accurate TPV system model will result only from a simultaneous and self-consistent application of these three components. In this paper, issues specific to the modeling of TPV cells and systems are discussed.