Design of an all-day electrical power generator based on thermoradiative devices

Energy harvesting from sun and outer space using thermoradiative devices(TRDs),despite being promising renewable energy sources,is limited only to daytime and nighttime period,respectively.Such a system with 24-hour continuous electric power generation remains an open question thus far.Here,a TRD-based power generator that harvests solar energy via concentrated solar irradiation during daytime and via thermal infrared emission towards the outer space at nighttime is proposed,thus achieving the much sought-after 24-hour electrical power generation.Correspondingly,a rigorous thermodynamical model is developed to investigate the all-day performance characteristics,parametric optimum design,and the role of various energy loss mechanisms.The calculated results predict that the daytime TRD-based system yields a peak efficiency of 12.6%under 10 suns,thus sig-nificantly outperforming the state-of-art record-setting solar thermoelectric generator.This work reveals the potential of TRD towards 24-hour electricity generation and future renewable energy technology.