Ginzton Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
Ginzton Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Apr 17;115(16):E3609-E3615. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1717595115. Epub 2018 Apr 2.
We derive the thermodynamic limits of harvesting power from the outgoing thermal radiation from the ambient to the cold outer space. The derivations are based on a duality relation between thermal engines that harvest solar radiation and those that harvest outgoing thermal radiation. In particular, we derive the ultimate limit for harvesting outgoing thermal radiation, which is analogous to the Landsberg limit for solar energy harvesting, and show that the ultimate limit far exceeds what was previously thought to be possible. As an extension of our work, we also derive the ultimate limit of efficiency of thermophotovoltaic systems.
我们从环境到寒冷的外层空间散发的热辐射中得出了从热辐射中获取能量的热力学极限。这些推导基于吸收太阳辐射的热机和吸收热辐射的热机之间的对偶关系。具体来说，我们得出了吸收热辐射的极限，这类似于太阳能吸收的兰兹伯格极限，并且表明该极限远远超过了之前认为的可能的极限。作为我们工作的延伸，我们还得出了热光伏系统效率的极限。
