Integrating a plasmonic photothermal interface in hybrid photovoltaic-thermoelectric devices
Résumé
One route to exceed the conversion efficiency of conventional solar cells is to harvest the energy corresponding to the near-infrared and infrared solar spectrum. To do so, an emerging strategy relies on combining a photovoltaic cell and a thermoelectric generator into a hybrid energy device. In this talk, I will first discuss the scientific challenges at stake in these hybrid photovoltaic-thermoelectric devices and review the recent advances on the subject. I will then present our work on the integration of a photothermal interface made of plasmonic nanoantennas to boost the conversion efficiency of the hybrid photovoltaic-thermoelectric device. Using a low-cost self-assembly-based patterning technique, we have demonstrated photothermal surfaces made of disordered arrays of plasmonic antennas achieving a significant temperature increase under solar infrared illumination over 6°C. Such an interface could be straightforwardly integrated into a complete hybrid photovoltaic-thermoelectric device, with the final targeted application of self-sufficient systems using hybrid conversion of solar energy into electricity for their power supply.