Scale Up Designs for Hand-Held Light-Weight TPV DC Power Supply

Both solar cells and batteries generate quiet DC electric power. Infrared (IR) sensitive GaSb photovoltaic cells can convert energy from a combustion heated glowing ceramic IR emitter into electricity. The result is a lightweight thermophotovoltaic (TPV) battery replacement that operates day and night. We present here the design and operation of a first stand alone TPV generator. Test results on this unit have allowed us to design a scale-up hand-held 10% efficient 50 W TPV generator weighing 1.5 kg. The 50 W scale-up TPV power supply along with 1.5 kg of fuel has a projected weight specific energy density of 645 Wh/kg. This is 4 times larger than for a Li ion battery.