Fig. 1
Power conversion in regenerative thermophotovoltaics. Photons with energies below the band-edge of thermophotovoltaic cell are reflected by the mirror to reheat the emitter. This results in photon regeneration and a tremendous efficiency boost. Mirror inefficiency leads to below band-edge loss. Above the band-edge, losses are mostly due to defects in the cell material, Auger recombination as well as thermalization of high energy charge carriers