Adapting TPV for Use in a Standard Home Heating Furnace

A novel TPV configuration will be presented that can fit into a standard home furnace cabinet. This system incorporates an externally faceted glass cylinder with a dichroic filter deposited on its outer surface and a GaSb IR cell array bonded to the outer surface on top of the filter. This cylindrical array is then surrounded with an envelope containing a low boiling point liquid for evaporative cooling. The liquid is in direct contact with the backside of the cell array. An air‐cooled condenser is then mounted above the photovoltaic converter array. Evaporative cooling potentially allows a heat removal rate of 20 W/cm2. Additional novel features of this design are described. The goal is to design a cost‐effective retrofit forced‐air warm air furnace that can work either as a self‐powered furnace or as a Combined Heat and Power appliance. In order to achieve low cost, the design point for the GaSb cell electric power density is 2.5 W/cm2.