Manufacturability of Low-Cost InGaAs Thermophotovoltaic Devices

Project Innovation

This project will fund significant manufacturing process improvements to the Recipient's innovative thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells. The recipient has developed a thermal battery capable of providing reliable, on-demand heat and power for industry. The Recipient’s thermal battery is composed of low-cost, commercial-off-the-shelf components—except for the TPV cell, which is manufactured using an expensive indium phosphide (InP) semiconductor substrate that dominates the overall system cost. This project will develop and demonstrate a reproducible epitaxial liftoff (ELO) process for low-cost indium gallium arsenide TPV devices. This innovation can lead to significant cost reductions for the TPV devices and the overall thermal battery system.