Frequency selective surface bandpass filters applied to thermophotovoltaic generators

EDTEK, Inc. is developing three TPV applications, a portable diesel fueled generator for military and remote users, a hybrid solar-gas fueled power system intended for light industry and commercial 24-hour use, and a radioisotope fueled generator for deep-space spacecraft. The application of FSS bandpass filters for spectral control in these dime different TPV applications has been analyzed. It has been determined that the design of the filter cannot be evaluated solely on the parameters of the filter itself. The interactions between the filter and the emitter and the TPV cells must be taken into account. In addition to the technical analysis of the converter, the overall system losses must be included in the analysis and the design requirements such as fuel efficiency, weight, generator size, cost and other factors must be included in the analysis. The analysis shows that the FSS filters are useful for producing the three systems with good efficiencies; however, different designs are required for the filters for each application.